


Songs Across The Seas

by RealAlex13Creations



Category: Vocaloid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:00:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 46,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23180593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RealAlex13Creations/pseuds/RealAlex13Creations
Summary: Hatsune Miku is the one of the most well known Vocaloids in the music industry, loved and adored by her fans and practically all of Japan. However, the 17 year old android finds herself in a rut when critics who used to review her work positively are now beginning to criticize it. Angered and frustrated at this, she entrusts upon her agent to fix the problem, leading him to rely on help from an old friend and her client, an up and coming artist in America known as Prince Alex.
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

**10:30 pm. Colorado.**

A young man; just turned 18: Alexander Diaz. He sat in his small, rented out home, staring at his laptop. His account was opened up to an email from his agent: Katherine Peterson. It read:

_Alex,_

_We've been working together for a few years now. We've overcome some real obstacles in that time, including the doubts of those who weren't behind us. It's been almost a full year and a half now, and we haven't been making any real efforts to get back on track and making hits again. I don't want to force you back in if you don't want to make music anymore, but you need to let me know. We need to pick up the ball again, Alexander. Call me or email me back as soon as you read this, and let me know where it is you stand._

_Kathy._

Alex pulled out his iPhone, and called Kathy. The phone rang a few times, then Kathy answered. "Hello?" She said. "Hey Kathy. It's Alex." "Hey Alex. Did you finally get around to reading the email I sent you this afternoon?" "Yeah. Uh, what do you mean by 'we need to pick up the ball again'?" He heard Kathy sigh over the phone. "I'll be honest with you, Alex, this is a very big dry spell, and it's seriously starting to affect your career. Production values have dropped hard, and people have lost a lot of interest." Alex sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. "Alright. So basically, I need a new way to get back into the game?" "That's exactly what needs to happen, or you'll be retired from music."

Kathy sighed a bit, unhappy to have to be the one to deliver this hard hitting message to Alex, who she considered to be a good friend as well as her favorite client. "I'm going to do everything I can to help, but it'll take a lot of effort on your part to make it happen." Alex nodded. "Right." Alex got up and started pacing back and forth. He was silent for a bit. Kathy waited patiently. "Alright alright...I'll work on some...hmm...melodies! Maybe with some time I can get some kind of EP in the works." Alex suggested, a little unsure of himself. Kathy could hear it though, and heard the old, energized Alex that she'd met three years ago when he first started making music.

Kathy nodded. "You do that, Alex. Maybe we can find some opportunities to get people interested again." "Alright. I'll look around too, find some new sounds." Alex suggested, clicking tabs on his computer and clearing his desktop. "Yeah that's a good idea. I'll let you know when I've found something, if I'm able to do so." "Yeah. Thanks Kathy." Alex said quickly. "Just doing my job, Alex." Kathy said with a small smile. "Right. Well, it's late, so I'll let your thing and I'll do mine. I'll try to put in extra time, since it'll just be me on this." "Good." Kathy said. "Bye Alex." "Bye." Alex said, hanging up.

Alex sat on his bed and sighed, rubbing his eyes and uttering a curse under his breath. He opened up his favorite music program on his laptop, and began to build a beat from scratch.

***

**7:30 am. Tokyo, Japan.**

We leave Alexander now, and change settings to Hatsune Miku's penthouse hotel room. She isn't up yet, however; she's still sleeping peacefully under her sheets. Her phone began to vibrate on the nightstand by her bed, waking her up from her sleep. Miku's eyes opened, and she began to grumble irritably. She rolled over and picked up the phone, sliding her thumb across the screen to answer it. She held it up to the side of her face. "Hello?" She said irritably.

"Morning Miku. It's Hiru." Miku rolled her eyes. Hiru: her agent. The two have been putting up with each other and going back and forth for a number of years now. The only reason Miku kept him around was because he was good at his job, good enough that is. "Why am I getting a call from you right now? You know I sleep in until 10 when I've no other plans." She heard a faint sigh from Hiru on the other end. He took a deep breath. "Right. I've got some bad news. Uh, there's been a slight but growing decrease of interest in your latest releases, from a few months ago."

"What are you talking about?" Miku said, lifting her head. "Well, you see, uh, according to our polls, they say that it's pretty repetitive and-" "Repetitive?!" She screeched. "What the hell are you talking about?! I will have you fired, Hiru! Explain this to me!" Miku threatened, now sitting up in her bed. Hiru cleared his throat. "The groups of fans of yours tat we poled saith that your new releases were repetitive, and that it didn't present anything new or interesting that made it, well, stand out." Miku scoffed at this. "That's ridiculous! My fans love my music!" She defended, feeling somewhat hurt by criticism.

"Of course they do, Miku. And they still do. But, uh, these new releases weren't quite as...successful, as some of your other previous songs." Hiru explained with little avail. "You're being stupid again, Hiru." She growled at him. "I want you to fix this. Why are you calling **me** about this? **You** need to fix this. I don't care how, but if I don't get better results, you're fired." Miku threatened again; this wasn't the first time she'd done this. Hiru rolled his eyes.

"They're your songs, Miku." He said passively. "Excuse me? Whose the agent here? Whose in charge of making me popular? And whose the one whose about to get fired??" Miku shot back at him. At this point, Hiru wasn't willing to deal with any more of her screeching. "I will speak with your producers and your team, but I cannot take all of the responsibility, Miku." The phone clicked and the call ended. Miku stared down at her phone in angry disbelief at what Hiru had just said and done. "How dare he?!" She thought to herself. She hurled her phone across the room, yelling out in anger.

"Who does he think he is?!" She exclaimed to an empty hotel room. She let out a frustrated exhale, stomping across her room and slamming her bathroom door.

***

**7:47 am. Tokyo, Japan.**

Hiru sat in his office chair, looking carefully through critic reviews of his client's new releases. He sighed, still recovering his sanity from his over the phone conversation with Hatsune Miku. His phone began to ring. He was almost going to ignore it, expecting to see Miku's name and face on the screen of his phone. However, he glanced at it. Instead, he saw a name he hadn't seen in some time, not since college overseas in America. The name read: Katherine Peterson. His eyebrows raised in surprise; he wondered what she would be calling him out of the blue for. He answered it.

"Hello?" "Hiru? It's Katherine." "Katherine? Wow, it has been some time." He said with a chuckle. "Mhmm. It has. Listen, I have to be frank with you right now. I have a client whose been having some difficulties producing some new ideas. I know you've got a big pop star over there, and I was wondering if you had anything that could help him make a comeback?" "Hmm." Hiru hummed.

It certainly was a sudden request. However, Hiru and Katherine had shared some college classes together, in search of the same job. Hiru knew well Kathy's initiative and judgement, and trusted it during plenty their time together. If she has a client she was willing to be bold about, it must've been worth a lot to her. Hiru shifted his focus to a picture of himself and Hatsune Miku sitting on his desk. It was taken backstage after her first show. Her arms were wrapped around his neck as she stood on the stair up to the stage behind him. They both had big smiles on their faces; hopeful, optimistic smiles.

"Well, my client over here, although she'd hate me for saying it to anyone, has started to decline a bit. Her fans want a fresh new sound from her. I can't make any promises, but it seems our clients both have a similar problem. Your client, do you perhaps have any samples of his music that I can hear?" "I do. Let me send you a few tracks and you can see what you think. Do you still have the same email?" "Never changed it." Hiru said. "Seems you haven't changed much either." Kathy joked. Hiru chuckled. "Alright, well I'll make sure to get back to you after I hear the tracks, okay?" "Okay." "Bye." Hiru hung up the phone.

***

**1 am. Tokyo, Japan. [9 am in Colorado].**

Hiru yawned, still awake. After a long day of researching, promos, and conferences with the different members of "Hatsune Miku team" under KAITO company, Hiru was very tired. However, on his way to an afternoon conference with the sound engineering team, he'd opened up Kathy's email with her client's tracks and listened to them. Then he listened to them again. Then he listened to them on his way back. He was shocked at what he'd heard; his decision had been made, so he called Katherine back.

"Hello?" She asked after she answered. "Hi Kathy. It's Hiru again. Is this a good time?" "It's fine, Hiru. What have you got for me?" She asked, clearly excited. "I listened to all of your client's samples. This kid has a lot of potential. I think some arrangements could be made here. Do you have anything in mind?" Hiru said praisingly before proposing the question. Kathy thought for a brief moment, then made a suggestion. "Well, you've got that pop star you're representing, right?" "I do, yes." Hiru answered in reference to Miku.

"What if we could arrange some sort of meeting between them and get something set up from there? I think it might make a significant improvement to his future releases." Kathy proposed carefully. She asked: "What are your thoughts?" "Hmm." Hiru hummed again, and began to think out loud. "Miku's music has been falling into a set pattern that hasn't been sitting too well, and her public image hasn't brought things up too much. Perhaps this could give him the boost he needs **and** the boost she needs." Hiru reasoned out.

"See? It's a win-win in both cases if all goes well. There's little to lose from this." "You're right, and I agree." Hiru said. Kathy breathed a sigh of relief that she had managed to convince him, but she still had to get this arranged and set in motion. "Alright. When should this meeting be?" "Well, Miku isn't on tour right now, so she has time for it now." "Alex finished a small tour some time ago, so he'll also be fully available for this." "Then I guess its just a matter of who goes where and when." Hiru said. "Right. Any ideas?" Kathy asked. "Well, is your client working on anything?" "Yes, he's working on an EP now." Kathy answered.

"Then perhaps it would be more convenient for her to go there." Hiru suggested. "Most likely. How soon can she be here?" Hiru sighed at the idea of trying to convince Miku to do this. "Well, maybe I don't have to convince her." Hiru said. "I'd give it a week. Perhaps two." Hiru answered with a nod of his head. "Sounds like a plan." Kathy said, happy that this was being set in motion. "I'll let him know about the meeting." Kathy said, referring to Alex. "Alright. And I'll let Miku know." Hiru said, clearly less excited about it. "Keep me updated on the process and we'll prepare for her arrival." "Alright. Bye Kathy. We'll be in touch." "Okay. See you soon, Hiru." Kathy said, hanging up the phone.

***

Kathy didn't let Alex know right away. First, she looked into nearby hotels and airports for Miku, and arrangements to make her stay comfortable once she'd chosen a hotel and the airport. It was early afternoon of the next day when Kathy finally called up Alex. He didn't answer right away, for he was on his laptop; he had been working constantly since his call with Kathy. He answered her call as soon as he felt his phone vibrate.

"Hello?" He answered. "Afternoon Alex. I have great news." She said, setting it up. "So do I. I have almost an entire instrumental completed, and the lyrics are in the works." Kathy smiled, excited at the idea of being back in business with her client and friend. "That is good news! And I've found an opportunity for you." "Ooh do tell." Alex said, taking a sip of water. "One of my old college friends is an agent for a big name Japanese pop star, and he's agreed to travel here with her here to America so ya'll can collaborate on your upcoming new releases."

Alex's eyes widened a bit. "Wow, really? Japanese pop star, huh?" Kathy could hear the excitement in his voice. "Who is it?" He asked. "Hatsune Miku." Alex paused for a few moments. "Whose that?" "She's a Japanese pop star." Kathy answered. "Well, that's already been established. How do you spell her name? I'll look her up real quick." Kathy spelled it out for him, and he typed up her name in a Youtube search bar. "Got it. Let's hear something." He muttered aloud, clicking on the most popular choice: World Is Mine.

Kathy could hear the song over the phone as Alex listened very quietly. He hummed in thought. "What do you think?" She asked. "Meh. It's okay, I guess. Her voice sounds like an autotuned chipmunk." Kathy shrugged. "Well, they adore her over there. However, as of late, her songs have been reviewed as repetitive and Hiru, her agent, says that you may be what she needs to bring out something new and fresh." Kathy explained. "He said that about me?" Alex asked, practically in shock. "Well, you are pretty big over here, and after hearing some of your work, he concluded that the two of you can help each other out."

Alex nodded, feeling honored and a little pressure. "Okay. Well, I'll do my best, and study up on her style choices. When will she be here?" "Hiru says it should be about a week or two from now." "Okay. I'll get on it then." "That's good. I'll keep you updated on the process." Alex nodded. "Okay. Thanks Kathy for this." "Just doing my job, Alex. It's no problem." "Is that all?" Alex asked. "I believe so." Kathy answered. "Okay, well I'll be working some more then, so I'll let you go, Kathy. Thanks again." "You're welcome, Alex. Bye." Alex hung up the phone.


	2. Chapter 2

**10:16. Tokyo, Japan.**

Miku mumbled, turning over and waking from her peaceful sleep. She had slept to her satisfaction, and was now ready to get up. As she woke, she overheard her hotel door opening. Two staff members entered quickly, with room service breakfast. She glared their way, but said nothing to them as she climbed fully out of bed. As she went into the bathroom and changed into a sweater and jeans, the staff members served her food and left as quickly as they could enter. She sat at her bed, looking over the food. She reached over and grabbed her phone, and found that she had received a message from Hiru that read:

_"Call me when you wake."_

Miku scoffed at his message, sliding her thumb to the left and removing the message from her lock screen. She ate her food, and once she was finished, he opened up the message and called Hiru.

"Morning Miku." Hiru greeted upon entering. "Morning. Why did you tell me to call you?" Miku asked. "Just to let you know what your schedule is today. Sorry that it's coming in so late. Last minute delays caused a few quick changes." "Sure. What're the changes?" Miku asked bluntly. "The press interview has moved from 1 to 1:30 pm at the same place. Also, the production team has a new instrumental they want you to hear. Later this afternoon, I have something I'd like to discuss with you face to face." "Fine. Whatever." Miku sighed, noting everything mentally. "Right. Bye then." Hiru said, hanging up. Miku laid back on the bed, closing her eyes for a few brief moments.

***

Another hour and a half of relaxing passed before Miku went down to her limo and sat in the back, messaging friends. Before the limo drove off, another person got into the back of the limo: a journalist in his late 20's or early 30's. The limo pulled into the street after he got in. Miku looked up from her phone, looking him over. "Hello, Hatsune." He greeted with a polite smile. "Hello." Miku said with a nod, sipping from a bottle of water.

"Forgive me for being so sudden on entering. Your agent, Mr. Hiru, allowed me to ride along, so I could ask you a few questions." The journalist explained. "Go ahead." Miku said politely. He nodded, and raised his pen and notepad:

"Okay. To start, how have your fans been treating you?"

"I think my fans have been good to me for the most part." She said, then continued. "However, it has been brought to my attention that my latest releases have been, to quote, 'repetitive'. My fans are important to me, however, and I want to make them happy and for them to take a liking to my work as they've always had."

"I see. Bringing up the repetitive comment, that leads me to my next question. While your new music was fairly well received, critic reviews on average ranked it about half a point to a full to a full point lower than the rest of your work, on a score out of five. Critics showed that they liked the hits more or less, but stated them as being, as you said, 'repetitive' as well as 'stylistically mundane.' What do you have to say to those who think in harmony with those opinions?"

"I'm interested to understand why they think so." Miku said, trying to maintain her smile and hide her gritted teeth. "And as I've said before, I strive to make my fans happy. I'm taking these new critiques into mind as I create my upcoming releases, which will hopefully be more pleasing." She answered slowly and carefully.

The journalist nodded. "It's good to see that you really care about your fans and how they view your work. Your last tour was rated one of your most successful thus far. Would you say that it's because of your fans?"

This answer came much easier. "Of course. I'd say I owed all my success to my fans."

The journalist smiled and nodded. The limo parked outside of the skyscraper containing Miku's recording studio. "Thank you for your time, Miku." "No problem." Miku said with a smile. The two shook hands. "I'm Jackie, by the way." "Nice meeting you, Jackie." Miku said as he exited the limo. She exited out the other side of the limo, and was led by an escort into the building. She went up to the 15th floor, and to her studio: a large living space with two recording booths side by side, an open stage section, and a closed off section with all the sound engineering equipment.

As she entered the studio, Miku went through her phone once again, scrolling through the notifications on her phone. Another notification appeared at the top of that list: a notification from a local airline. "What is this?" She muttered aloud, reaching the studio. She stepped into the room with all the sound engineering equipment, looking around. A few audio engineers from her sound team were inside, speaking with Hiru. Hiru turned to her, breaking off his conversation with the engineers.

"Hello Miku. How was the ride and the interview?" He asked. "It was fine." Miku answered dismissively. "That's good. I was just speaking with your team here." Hiru explained. The head engineer, Na, spoke up. "We've been working on an instrumental that we'd like you to give a listen." Na explained, gesturing to the computer at the other end of the room, sitting on a small desk next to all the equipment. "Let's hear it." Miku said with a passive sigh, taking a seat in front of the computer.

Na plugged her headphones into the computer and prepared the track. He then stood straight, turned back to the others, and their conversation started up again. Miku silently listened to the bubbly electronic track, with a slight bob of her head. When she had finished, she unplugged her headphones and swiveled around in her chair to face them. "What did you think?" Na asked Miku. "It was good." She answered simply. They nodded, and she nodded as well.

She then turned to Hiru. "Um, Hiru? I got some notification from an airline company. Why is that?" Hiru merely nodded at her question. "Right. Come, we'll speak about it in my office." She stood and followed him into his office, and they sat. "What's this about?" She asked again. Hiru cleared his throat. "Ahem. Early this morning, I spoke with an old friend of mine over in America. She's an artist manager and representative, like I am for you. She sent me samples of an artist she represents, and I found myself quite impressed with what I heard. The notification you received was likely confirming the tickets I purchased; two plane tickets to fly to America, so we can meet them."

Miku frowned at this suddenness. Hiru sighed a bit. "You asked me to 'fix' the swaying opinion of your fans. I can't do that, but this meeting will be a step in the right direction." "And how are you so sure about this? Who is this person that I'm supposed to be meeting anyway?" She questioned, arms crossed and folded over her chest. "He's a handsome young man a little older than you. His name is Prince Alex." Hiru answered. "Prince Alex, huh?" Miku pondered this with a slight cringe. "Yes. He's a self made artist who became a real up and comer, but has hit a dry spell as of late." Hiru explained. "And we're supposed to help each other out in this, right?" "Yes." Hiru said.

"Fine then. I'll go to America." Miku decided. "Alright. The flight is to Colorado Springs in Colorado. It'll be hot over there." Hiru said. Miku rolled her eyes, finding Hiru's smothery warning to be unnecessary, and frankly, pretty lame. "Whatever. What day is the flight?" "Five days from now." "Alright. That's a little short notice, but oh well." Miku commented with a passive shrug. "I know. The opportunity came up and I had to take it. My apologies. I wanted to tell you as soon as possible, though, so you'd have time to pack." "Alright. Thanks for that, at least."

Hiru sucked in a breath and exhaled. "You're welcome." "Was that it?" Miku asked. "Yes. Your schedule's clear for the rest of the day." "Good. I expect not to be disrupted then unless absolutely necessary." "Of course." Hiru said understandingly with a nod. Miku nodded as well, getting up and leaving the room.

***

**3:44 pm. Tokyo, Japan.**

Miku was back at her hotel again, up on the roof, approaching the pool with her bag over her shoulder and a towel around her waist. She looked up and saw two of her best friends at the pool: two fellow Vocaloids by the name of Kagamine Rin, a girl with short blonde hair and blue eyes, and Gumi, a shorter girl with green hair and goggles on her forehead. They looked over and noticed her. "Hi Miku-san!" Gumi greeted.

Miku smiled a bit, setting her bag down in a nearby chair and approaching them. "Glad you could make it, Miku, but what took you so long?" Rin asked. "I was having an important discussion with Hiru." Miku answered. "About your music and stuff?" Rin inferred. Miku nodded. "When I told him that he needed to fix all this crap, he decided that having me work with someone else would be a good choice." "Well, that's not so bad, is it?" Gumi asked. She and Rin sat on opposite sides of Miku. "It wouldn't be, if I didn't have to go to America to work with him."

"America?!" They exclaimed simultaneously, their heads both perking. "That's so cool though, Miku! None of us have been to America before!" Gumi said, excited for Miku. "Whose this 'he' you're gonna be working with?" Rin asked excitedly. "I think his stage name is Prince Alex."

Gumi squealed excitedly. "I love Prince Alex's music!" She shouted. "You've heard of him before?" Miku asked her. "Of course!" Gumi answered with a giggle. "I think you two are gonna sound amazing together!" Gumi said confidently. Miku groaned at this. "That's what Hiru thinks too, but I don't want to go." "Then why don't you just tell him that?" Rin suggested. "Because he booked the flight before he told me, so I basically just don't have a choice." Rin shrugged. "Well, you could try to make the most of it? I mean, you're gonna be in America! That's gonna be some experience, and we expect pictures when you get back." Rin stated. "And get a picture of or with Prince Alex, please?" Gumi begged.

"I don't want to think of it now. I leave early next week, so can we please just drop the subject for now?" The girls nodded understandingly. "You know what'll cheer you up? A nice cool swim in the pool." Gumi suggested. "No thanks, Gumi. I don't feel like getting into the pool right now. I just wanna lay here and relax." "Aww come on, Miku. It'll be fun!" Rin exclamed.

And the struggle began, as the girls took Miku's hands and pulled her up. Rin quickly took Miku's headphones and phone from her and set them down. They proceeded to try to pull her into the water. "No!" Miku shouted with a giggle, trying to pull back. "I don't wanna!" "Yes you do, stop lying!" Gumi grinned mischeviously. They reached the edge and pushed her in. However, Miku spun around and grabbed them, pulling them in with her. They landed in the pool with a big splash, then resurfaced, wiping water from their eyes and hair plastered to their faces.

The three laughed and shared a hug. "I'm gonna miss you guys." Miku said to them.


	3. Chapter 3

Miku's alarm woke her up at 7 am. It was the day of the flight to America, and she was not excited for it. Grumbling as she got out of bed, she dressed herself in black jeans, a blue sweater with exposed shoulders, and her boots. She was ready by 7:10, and at 7:11 she got a knock at her hotel door. She huffed a bit, and went to answer it, expecting Hiru or the hotel staff again. Instead, on the other side, she found her old school friend: Taiga, waiting for her on the other side with a grin and a bowl of cereal.

"Hey Taiga." She said, a little happier to see her friend than she would've been had it been one of the aforementioned. She entered. "Hey. I'm here to help you pack." "You're a little late. I'm almost done and ready to go." "Agh. I'm too late then. That's fine, I brought breakfast!" Taiga said with more cheer, holding out the cereal to her. She took it. "Awesome." She said with a small chuckle. "You can help me finish packing." Miku offered. "Of course." Taiga said quickly.

It was now that Taiga took a good look around the room, taking it in fully for the first time. "Nice room by the way. Does it have rocket boosters for when you want to go to the moon?" Taiga teased. Miku rolled her eyes. "Oh ha ha. You're just jealous." She said, sticking out her tongue. "Jealous? Pssh. My room goes into hyperdrive." Taiga said with a dumb expression, sticking her tongue back at me. Miku laughed a bit, gathering her bags on her bed and beginning to eat her cereal.

"You've got quite a bit packed. How long are you gonna be over in America?" Taiga asked. "I don't know. I just assumed it'd be for a while. I'm helping some male pop star over there with his career and stuff, so it could be a while." Miku summarized briefly. "Helping a pop star in America? That's...odd." Taiga remarked. "Yeah, that's what I thought, but his career has reached a dry spot and our agents got together and decided to make the most of the situations." "I don't listen to a lot of American pop. Whose the pop star?"

"I was told that his name was Alex. Prince Alex." Miku answered. Taiga thought for a minute, trying to think of the name and if it meant anything to her. "Alex? Uh...uh...oh! Prince Alex, right! Ren from school listens to him." Miku rolled her eyes at the mentioning of his name. "Ugh, I don't like that name. Prince Alex, really?" She criticized. "Well, he isn't the only one. Ren also listens to a guy called Prince Royce. Maybe that's just a thing over in America." "It's an odd trend. Americans are weird." "I agree."

Miku finished her cereal and they finished packing. "I hope this doesn't last too long." Miku commented. "Mhmm. But hey, best thing to do is to look at the bright side." Two men came in at that moment, hotel staff members with a luggage cart. "The limo will be arriving shortly. It's time to leave, Miku." One of the men said respectfully. She nodded and grabbed one of her lighter bags, gesturing for the men to load up the cart and fixing her sweater. Taiga grabbed on of the smaller suitcases, and once the men had finished, they followed the men down to the limo.

The two got into the back of the limo, getting comfortable in their seats. They buckled themselves in. Miku sighed again. "I'm not looking forward to this." She admitted again. The limo pulled forward. Taiga turned to her Vocaloid friend. "Why not?" She asked, then added: "America is weird, but it also seems like a pretty cool place." "Eh." Miku shrugged. "I prefer it here. And besides, the last thing I needed right now was for some stupid, arrogant guy trying to help me out with MY music. I already have to deal with Kaito." She folded her arms with a huff.

"Hiru booked this flight before telling me, so I don't have any other choice but to go through with it." "Well, just make the most of it. Maybe you'll have some time for fun where you're going." Taiga suggested. "Colorado. I think that's where Hiru said we were going. I doubt that I'll have time for my own fun, but whatever. I guess I can try to pretend to like it." Taiga seemed surprise at this notion from Miku. "Pretend to like it? Now that doesn't seem like you." Miku sighed.

"This is just one of those rare occasions. After finding out about the criticism from my fans, and all these frustrations with Hiru, I'm under a lot more stress than usual. This trip probably isn't going to amount to anything important." Taiga nodded. "Hmm. Okay. Well, at least you won't be forgetting about me while you're in the States." Taiga said, still looking for a bright side. "That's not even a possibility." Miku said with a light chuckle. "I wish you could go too, but Hiru only booked two seats." "Well, maybe I can be your agent." Taiga joked.

"If Hiru ever pisses me off too much, you've got the job." Miku said with a smile. "Awesome. I could totally be an agent." Taiga said confidently. The two laughed. "We won't get any work done though. You'll be too busy basking in the glow of trying to boss me around." Miku pointed out. "Haha. Trying to boss you around is like telling a plant to get out of it's can and onto a wall." Miku chuckled. "It's possible. And hey, you never know, you might be that one person who is able to do so, without getting hurt in some way, shape, or form. You know better than most that I can get real mean with my leek."

Taiga laughed hard at the mention of the leek. "You remember that one time that you got swarmed by paparazzi, and you had that thing on you?" Miku snorted, remembering the incident clearly. "And people wonder why I don't have to worry about swarms anymore. People were talking about that for weeks." Miku said, laughing harder. "Ahh good times." Miku said with a humorous sigh. "Hahaha. I will never forget the crazed look in your eyes. Psycho." Taiga teased, and the two giggled. "You better believe it." They giggled more, which turned into a fit of laughter, which caused Taiga to snort in laughter, than laugh harder at herself. "Ewwww you snorted! Gross!" "I know!" They exclaimed, laughing even more.

They arrived at the airport, still teasing each other as they got out of the limo. "And I don't swing leeks around trying to kill photographers." Taiga pointed out as they teased each other back and forth. Two men came from inside the airport, loading up their bags. Miku chuckled, wagging a finger at Taiga. "For the record, I wasn't trying to kill them, per say, just getting their attention and pointing out the fact that I don't like to be crowded." "You swung at their heads." Taiga pointed out. "I REALLY wanted their attention." Miku added. Taiga laughed.

"Well, this is as far as I can follow you." Taiga said as the men finished unloading her stuff and began taking it inside. "Try and have fun in America, Miku." Taiga said again. "I'll try to." Miku said with a smile. They shared a hug. "Send me pictures." She said. "Oh, you mean you don't want me to describe everything in great detail when I get back? That's odd, but I guess I'll do that." Miku teased. "Pssh. You can afford international phone calls." Miku shrugged. "Maybe." She said with a chuckle. "Oh shut up and get on your plane." Taiga chuckled, and they shared another hug.

"Bye Hatsune. Say hi to the stupid arrogant prince for me." Miku giggled. "I might even smack him with the leek for ya as well." They shared one more laugh before separating. "I'll see you when I get back, Taiga." Miku said. Taiga smiled and nodded, getting back in the limo and being driven off. Miku watched her leave for a bit before turning. The two men escorted her to her private jet, where Hiru is waiting for her. They entered the jet together.

As the staff all prepared for takeoff, Hiru sat down in the relative center of the jet with his laptop and headphones. Miku sat towards the back of the plane, plugging her headphones into her phone, laying back, and listening to her music. Soon the plane had taken off and was up in the air, and soon Miku had fallen asleep...


	4. Chapter 4

**2:33 am. Colorado, Springs,** **Colorado**.

Miku wiped her eyes, yawning. She looked around; the plane was no longer in the air. It had landed. She sat up and found Hiru still awake, looking out the window of the plane. Hiru looked over and saw that Miku was awake, and he smile. "Look at the mountains, Miku. They're really pretty." Miku got up and walked over. "They have mountains here?" "Yes. The Rocky Mountains." Miku looked out the window. Although it was still dark, she could see the lights of the city and the mountains themselves.

The plane door opened behind them. Hiru exited the plane with their things, but Miku gazed at the mountains some more before turning and exiting the jet, walking down the stairs onto the runway. Miku heard the roar of a car engine, and looked up. A black Toyota Camry pulled up, parking only a few yards away from the bottom of the stairs. Miku looked at Hiru with a raised eyebrow. She watched as the driver got out. While it was dark, the light of the full moon made it easy enough for her to clearly make out his face.

He was alone. He had tanned skin that was a little on the lighter side, brown eyes, a decent jawline, and an impressive head of black, spiked hair. He smiled at them as he leaned against his car. He had on a black leather jacket with an attached hoodie, a burgundy shirt, blue jeans, and black running shoes. At first glance, Miku certainly wasn't infatuated, but was willing to admit that he was, maybe, handsome-ish. He seemed about her age, maybe a little older. "There he is." Hiru said.

Miku frowned, raising an eyebrow. She did a double take as they finally began approaching the car. "That's Prince Alex?" "Yes." Hiru answered. Alex waved to them. Hiru waved back; Miku waved only once. Miku and Hiru stopped. "Is something wrong?" Hiru asked. The airport staff took the luggage to Alex's car, and he helped them load it up. "It's nothing," Miku said. "I just could've sworn that you might've mentioned that he was attractive." Miku muttered.

"Are you sure this is the right person?" Miku asked, growing ever more doubtful the more she watched Alex. "He doesn't look...like pop star material." Miku criticized. "Ah nonsense. Looks can be deceiving after all." Hiru disregarded. Alex closed the trunk. Hiru and Miku approached the car, and Alex walked around to greet them. They met in the middle. Alex smiled.

"Hatsune Miku, I presume?" Alex said, jokingly gesturing to Hiru. Hiru chuckled a bit, but Miku was not amused, and kept a straight face as she continued to look Alex over. "Heheh. Kathy asked me to do that," Alex admitted. "She's told me a lot, Hiru. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." He shook hand with Hiru. "She wanted to be here as well, but a possible gig came up and she insisted on pursuing it. She did say, though, that she'd come by to greet you guys tomorrow." Alex turned to Miku. "And Hatsune Miku. It's a pleasure to meet you as well."

Alex held his hand out to Miku, with a polite smile. She returned the handshake gently, her straight face unwavering. "Nice to meet you as well, Alex." Alex nodded. "Let me be the first to officially welcome you both to the Mile High City." "Thank you." Miku said. "It seems nice here, so far." "That's good. Well, since Kathy isn't here, we couldn't really pull out all the finest stops for you guys, so I offered to drive ya'll to the hotel myself." Alex opened the car doors as he walked around it and got into the driver's seat. Miku slid into the back, and Hiru into the passenger's seat.

"Think I'd get in trouble if I just sped up and down the airstrip?" Alex joked as he started the car. "Yes." Miku said bluntly. Alex didn't seem to catch her tone. "Ah dangit. Next time." He said, driving around and exiting the airport through a side road. "How was the flight for you guys?" Alex asked them. "It was fine. I slept through most of it." Miku answered. Hiru merely nodded. Alex nodded as well. "Best way to get through a flight. In any case, we're happy to have you here now, in America. How long was the flight?" "About 10 hours." Hiru answered.

The rest of the way home, Miku tuned out Alex and Hiru as they continued the conversation between themselves. She was thinking long and hard, trying to determine how she felt about America, and Alex. So far, America seemed nice enough. It could be a little cleaner at least. Then there was Alex. This guy...he didn't feel like the pop star she'd come to work with, not in the very least. He was literally driving them himself to their hotel. If he was a pop star, he certainly hadn't been one for very long, she reckoned.

Alex pulled the car up at the front of the hotel. Miku looked it over. "Looks nice." She commented. Alex got out first, and brought over a luggage cart. Miku grabbed her bag and slowly got out as Alex and Hiru loaded the suitcases into the luggage cart. As they guided the cart into the hotel and Miku followed, Alex got a call. He guided the cart with one hand, answering his call with the other hand.

"Hello? Yeah, they arrived about 10 minutes ago. Haha, yeah I did. Mhmm...awesome! Thank you Kathy."

Alex pocketed his phone as they arrived at Miku's hotel room, and Hiru opened the door. Miku stood by Alex, texting Taiga as she waited. "My agent wanted me to say hi and welcome to the States." "Thanks." Miku said quickly. "Have you ever been to America before?" Alex asked as they entered her room. "I haven't actually. Closest I've been was Canada." "Ah okay. I guess I just kind of assumed you had, considering how many fans you have here." "I have fans everywhere." Miku said, "But I've never been to most of those places."

Miku sat down, breaking off the conversation. As Alex and Hiru unloaded Miku's suitcases from the luggage cart, she continued her conversation with Taiga. Taiga sent the first message:

_"Did you meet the stupid arrogant prince yet?"_

_"_ _Haha_ _yeah, but surprisingly not arrogant. Stupid...still deciding."_

 _"_ _Lol_ _alright. What's he look like?"_

 _"_ _Lol_ _I'll try to send a pic. Can't you just look him up though? :P"_

_"Tried. Wasn't sure it was him."_

_"Describe the pic real quick."_

_"I'll just send you the pic. Dummy :P"_

_"Meanie. First you call me a psycho, and now I'm a dumb. When will this pain end???_ _XD_ _"_

Miku received the picture. It showed Alex wearing a black shirt and red jacket, standing onstage with a mic in his hand. He looked a little more like a pop star in the picture, which put Miku's mind at ease about that a little bit.

_"Yup. That's him."_

_"Nice. I rate him a_ _soli_ _d 7.45 out of 9."_

 _"_ _LOL_ _so specific."_

_"I have a system."_

_"I'm sure you do."_

"So Hiru, can I ask you something?" Alex asked. "Mhmm. What do you need, Alex?" "So, the reason you brought me on board with this is to provide a new sound, right?" "Yes. In a sense, integrate your style with Miku's, and make a new blend." Miku listened in to this conversation, but continued texting Taiga. "That makes sense. I need to discuss with Miku how we can make that work." "Do you want to do that now?" Miku chuckled a bit, focused on her conversation with Taiga. "If it's alright with Miku." Alex answered. Hiru and Alex both turned towards Miku, and Miku looked up from her phone.

"If what's alright with me?" She asked. "Just discussing what ways that you two can combine your music styles." Hiru answered. "Oh right." Miku said with a slightly bored tone. She did not want to start working so soon after landing, but figured it'd help her get back to Japan faster if she did. "You wanna start a little now?" Alex asked. "Sure."

"Alright. Firstly, I need to know if you have any tokens or trademarks in your music that you currently have or would like to have." Alex started. Miku silently shook her head. Alex nodded. "Okay. What genres do you typically work with?" Alex asked. Miku listed them, a little annoyed that he didn't already know. "Pop, Alternative, and Rock." Alex nodded again, with a little smile. "Nice. I do those too, mostly Pop. A little Hip-Hop or Rap here and there too." "Interesting." Miku said blandly.

"Well, the rest of my questions I can get from listening to your music. I don't have my laptop or any of my equipment on me, so I can't sample anything right now." Alex explained. Miku shrugged. "Pretty sure we can find each other's stuff online." "Yeah. Most of mine is on Youtube." Alex stood up. "Well I'mma go, and let you guys get your rest." Miku nodded. "Later, Alex." "Bye. Oh, Hiru, one more thing. Can we discuss this outside?" Miku raised her eyebrow but said nothing as Hiru got up and followed Alex out into the hall.

"What is it?" Hiru asked. Alex folded his arms. "You tell me. Is something going on with Miku?" Hiru sighed, understanding Alex's position. "She's a difficult young lady. She didn't want to come here, but I booked the flight here without telling her. She doesn't like that her critics have gotten more negative than usual about her music, and she doesn't believe that she needs your help. It's nothing personal towards you particularly, but she's got a negative attitude about the whole situation." Hiru explained.

Alex nodded. "Okay. Well, I wanna do my best to help, but she's gotta get involved at some point or this won't turn out well. Who writes her lyrics?" "She does." "Good. I write mine too. I'mma get some more work done tonight, and the two of us can look things over tomorrow." Hiru nodded. "And just as precaution, it wouldn't be wise to get her mad under any circumstances. Don't push her either. It's best to have some patience, or at least some tolerance, for her attitude." Hiru sighed again.

"I'll be fine. But I'm not going to let the attitude issues of Hatsune Miku halt this project. I've too much to lose if this flops." Alex explained. Hiru saw the fiery determination in Alex's eyes, and the firmness of his tone rung with him. Hiru nodded. "Got it." "Goodnight Hiru, and pass my goodnight to Miku as well." "Have a good night Alex. See you tomorrow." Hiru said. Alex nodded and left. Hiru reentered Miku's room for the luggage cart. She looked up from her phone.

"You two weren't talking about me, were you?" Miku asked, sitting at the edge of her bed. She hadn't heard anything, but she had certainly specuated. Hiru sighed a bit internally. "We were talking about the word that needs to get done. That does include you, Miku." Hiru said. Miku bit back a retort and sighed, knowing that he was right about that. "Goodnight." She muttered as Hiru wordlessly left the room with the luggage cart. She texted Taiga some more before setting her phone up to charge and falling asleep...


	5. Chapter 5

**Colorado Springs, Colorado. 9:45 am.**

Miku stirred out of her sleep, mumbling nonsensical words. She pushed herself up and sat up, rubbing her eyes. She hummed and stretched her arms, further shaking off her sleepiness. Now awake enough, she grabbed her phone. She called Taiga. The phone rang for a bit, then she answered. She muttered a weak: "Hello?" She had clearly been woken up by the call, and sounded very much still asleep.

"It's morning!" Miku exclaimed happily, in contrast to Taiga's greeting. "How'd ya sleep, T?" "Still am?" Taiga answered with a yawn. "It's like, 2 in the morning over here." Taiga explained. "Wow, that's soooo early." Miku said with a slight tease in her voice. "How was your first day in America?" Taiga asked, getting right to the question she'd been wanting to ask.

"Long and boring. The room is nice, at least. It has a pool and everything, and a nice view." "Must be nice." Taiga said, clearing her throat. "So, tell me all about your first day." Taiga asked. Miku shifted a bit. "It was alright. I ate, I slept, I got to talk to you. That's probably the best that it got. And those two were talking about me before we went to bed." Miku said with some pent up frustration. "Who?" Taiga asked.

"Alex and Hiru. I could tell that they were talking about me." "Do you know what about?" Taiga asked. "Probably what Hiru is always talking about; how difficult I am and crap like that. Alex is probably under the assumption that I'm some stubborn girl that refuses to listen to anyone else or something like that." "Ugh. That sucks." Taiga said. "You haven't told me about Alex yet." Taiga observed.

"Yeah, that's true. Well, he seems alright, I guess. He just...I don't know, he just doesn't seem like someone that's as big as he's supposed to be. His attitude is completely opposite of what I thought." "How so?" "He's not arrogant, or rude for that matter. He even helped Hiru carry my bags up to the hotel room, one that he personally drove us to. And he didn't even **try** to hit on me; that's what weirded me out the most. He's incredibly different from any dude I've ever worked with before."

Taiga hummed. "That's really strange. Not a bad strange, though." "Meh. Makes me weary. I don't know what's going through his head." "Well, I guess you'll figure that out once you start working with him. Are you gonna be working with him today?" Taiga asked. "I don't know. I'm gonna try and have a bit of time to myself before I try to work. I'm thinking I'll head down to the pool after our call." "Okay. You get to the pool then, and I'm gonna get back to sleep." "Oh, but I kinda wanted to stay on the phone." Miku said sarcastically. "I'll call you tonight." Taiga said. "Haha alright. Night, Taiga." "Bye, and morning, Miku."

After changing into a black swimsuit, Miku went down to the pool with some of her things. Upon entering the pool room, the first thing that Miku noticed was a shirtless Alex at a poolside table, wearing sunglasses and headphone, and focused on his laptop. Miku didn't move at first, waiting to see if he'd notice her. When he didn't, she simply sighed and sat about four chairs away from him, going through her own music. A few minutes passed where neither of them were aware of each other's presence, and were fully engaged in their music. Alex was the first to look up and at Miku.

"Miku!" Alex called out. She didn't respond. He tried again. No response. Alex looked around, then chuckled as he picked up his towel. He reeled his arm back and tossed it at Miku. She shrieked as it nailed her in the side of her head, disturbing her music and her rest. "What?!" She shouted, glaring at him. Alex, with a smile on his face, said nothing. He simply stood up and walked over to Miku. He then proceeded to bend down and pick up his towel. "Excuse me miss, I seemed to have dropped my towel." He said with a chuckle.

Miku rolled her eyes at him. "That was highly unnecessary." "Probably not, but it got the desired effect." Alex said, tossing his towel back to his chair and sitting in the chair closest to her. "Good morning!" He said cheerfully. "Morning." "You sleep well?" He asked politely, getting comfortable. "Well, yeah it was fine. The bed was decent." "That's how hotel beds usually are." Alex said with a nod. "How'd you sleep?" Miku asked in return.

"I slept alright. I only got about six hours of it, cause I was busy last night working on a track. "I had an idea last night that I wanted to flush out, and I think it'll turn out well with some lyrics to match. I've got my progress so far on my laptop if you wanna listen." Miku shrugged. "Why not? Bring it over." Alex nodded and pushed himself up to his feet, going to retrieve the laptop. He carried it to her, kneeling it down and "presenting" it to her as if he were presenting a crown. This brought about a faint smile from Miku as she took it from him. She plugged in her headphones, and played his track from the beginning.

Her headphones filled her ears with the song, which began with a quick fade-in that quickly became an electronic dance track mixed with pop. The layers of the track all harmoniously mixed together professionally, leaving a pleasant and almost inspirational sound in her ears. Needless to say, it took her off guard. Onscreen, she was able to see what parts of the song were the intro, first verse, pre-chorus, chorus, and second verse. The song cut off at the second verse. Removing her headphones, she nodded at him, expressing how impressed she was by it.

"You did this yourself?" She asked. He nodded. "Yeah. Nowadays, I do all my instrumentals myself. This is what I was working on last night." "That's cool." "Thanks. What did you think of the instrumental?" "I think here and there it could use a few minor adjustments, but it's really good." Alex nodded with a small smile. "I'm glad that you think so. We'll get more into it later. I'm sure that you didn't come here to work." Alex said with a bit of a laugh. "No, I didn't." Miku responded. She added: "I also wasn't expecting something like this from you." She admitted, handing his laptop back to him.

"What do you mean?" Alex asked, one eyebrow raised. Miku simply shrugged. "Just didn't expect it. Let's just say I have my own assumptions of you, just like you have your own assumptions of me." She said firmly. Alex thought about this for a bit. "Fair enough, I suppose. But I don't want there to be any bad blood between us. How about we both just put our assumptions aside, and try to get to know each other better? Perhaps starting with a dip in the pool?" Alex suggested. Miku hesitated for a bit, then nodded. "Sure." "Cool." Alex said, playing some music from his laptop before commencing a cannonball into the pool, which splashed water towards Miku as she stood.

She smiled and set her towel aside; the water hit the towel instead of her. "Is it cold?" MIku asked. "Nah, not really. You just gotta get it all out of the way right away." Alex answered. The thought of this made Miku shiver. "I'll just go in a bit at a time." Miku said. "No, that's the worst way! Just do it!" Alex said, attempting to egg her on. Miku shook her head, slowly making her way down the steps into the pool. "I've half a mind to just pull you in." Alex said. "You better stay away from me." Miku said, pointing at him.

Alex began to swim closer to her, a mischevious smirk on his face. Miku slowly backed out of the steps to distance herself. He splashed water at her, out of the pool. It hit her legs, making her shriek. "EEK! That's cold!!" Alex simply chuckled. "I told you to just jump in. It's gonna suck now." "It would've been worse if I **had** jumped in!" Miku retorted. "I jumped in, and I'm just fine." Alex pointed out. "You're different from me though!" "Oh stop complaining and just jump in!" Alex said. "I don't wanna!" "Then you shall suffer the cold!" Alex declared, splashing more water at her.

Getting hit some, Miku chose to fight back. She knelt down and kicked water back at him. As the two went to war, they yelled back and forth at each other. "There won't be any water in this pool when I'm done!" Alex said. "I know that!" "There's only one way this will end, Hatsune!" "Never!" "I will drag you by your pigtails!" "I got a leek, and I ain't afraid to use it!" "Don't you dare! I'll go Jackie Chan on you, and he's Chinese!" "I'll get wet when I want to!" "That's what she said!" Alex joked, bringing on a pink blush from Miku. "That's not what I meant, you idiot!" Alex laughed aloud. Miku growled and forcefully kicked more water at him.

The water smacked Alex in the face, and the splashing stopped. He began to hack and cough, almost doubled over with his face inches from the water. Miku's smile faded. "Are you okay?" She asked quickly, hurrying over to the side of the pool where he was at. He continued to cough loudly, and didn't respond. Miku knelt by him, starting to panic. "Alex! Are you okay?!" The coughing soon stopped. Alex grabbed Miku quickly, pulling her into the pool. She screamed as she went in, making a big splash.

Miku twisted and kicked at him underwater, to no avail. She resurfaced, sputtering as she wiped water from her eyes. "You cold now?" Alex asked with a grin. "Yes!" Miku shouted. "Oh, guess I was wrong then." Alex said with an amused shrug. "You think???" Miku shouted again, splashing him again. Alex allowed himself to be splashed, but he still looked very much amused. "I have half a mind to slap you." Miku said with a roll of her eyes and a shiver. "Aww come on, aren't you having fun?" Alex asked. Miku rubbed her arms. "I'm soaked though." She complained.

"True. If you wanna warm up, you gotta move around." "It's too cold." Miku whined. "Oh come on, Hatsune. Just start by swimming to me." Alex instructed. Miku pouted, but began to swim towards Alex. He swam backwards a bit. "Why'd you move?" "Just giving you a little more space." Alex answered. It was an answer that Miku did not expect, or rather, that she wasn't used to. She continued to swim to him. "There you go." "I'm still cold." Miku said. Alex responded by faking a pout, and tracing a fake tear down his right eye with his finger. Miku rolled her eyes and smiled faintly, and Alex chuckled.

Hiru entered the pool at that moment, and the two turned towards him. "I thought I heard screaming in here." Hiru joked lightly. "Heya Hiru. What's up?" Alex asked. "Just came to let you know that Kathy will be on her way. She'll be here around noon, and we'll all get together for a meeting in my room when she gets here." "Alright. That gives us what? An hour and a half?" Hiru nodded. Miku nodded as well. "Alright. You two have fun. Don't drown each other." Hiru said with a smile as he turned and left. "I'll think about it." Alex called back.

"What now?" Miku asked Alex. He shrugged. "We can just chill here, or we can grab a bite to eat somewhere if you want." Miku nodded. "Let's do that." "Alright." Alex said, splashing her quickly. She jumped on him and forced him underwater, laughing. He resurfaced and wiped the water off, chuckling. Miku pulled herself out of the pool. Alex watched her for a moment, then climbed out of the pool himself. They gathered their things, dried off, then went to their rooms to change...

**To Be Continued...**


	6. Chapter 6

Alex sat in the lobby, sitting comfortably on a leather seat. He glanced over at the clock: 10:55 am. He had gone home quickly and showered, changing into a fresh pair of blue jeans and black sneakers, his white Modern Culture T-shirt, and a black jacket. He'd even managed to tie his red bandana around his neck, which he had forgotten to put on when first picking up Miku and Hiru from the hotel.

Finally, Miku entered the lobby. Alex looked her over. She had on a white summer dress with matching sandals, a blue sash around her waist and a small blue leather jacket of the same color that fell halfway down the side of her stomach, with a blue purse to match as well. She'd tied her hair back into a singular long ponytail. Alex hummed to himself as he took her appearance in. He stood up and they met in the middle.

"Cute." Alex commented with a smile. "Thank you." Miku said. She added quickly: "You look nice as well." "Aww thanks." Alex said, striking a magazine cover girl pose with one hand on his hip and another behind his head. Miku laughed a little, and the two exited the hotel. They got in Alex's car. Miku almost got in the driver's seat, forgetting that the wheel was at the opposite side in America. They sat down, Alex in the driver's seat and Miku in the passenger seat.

"Where are we gonna go eat?" Miku asked Alex. Alex merely shrugged. "I don't know. I'm kinda in the mood for a burger." Alex said. This suggestion struck Miku. "Ooh that sounds good." She said. "I know a place we can go then." Alex said, pulling out of the hotel parking lot and onto the road. Miku sat back comfortably as Alex drove. "Alright then." She said. Alex put on the radio as he drove.

Miku was looking out the window as Alex drove. A rap song came on, which Miku began to listen with vague curiosity. Alex turned it up a bit, humming along with the song. "What is this?" Miku asked. "Just a song that's up on the charts right now." Alex answered simply. "What's it called?" Miku asked, not looking at the radio. "Stressed Out. Twenty-One Pilots." Alex answered quickly. Miku made a face. "It sounds awful." "I have a couple of different stations to choose from. You can look for something you like." Alex offered.

Miku began flipping through Alex's preset radio stations as he continued driving towards a nearby plaza and shopping centre. A few pop, rock, and even country songs came on the speakers with each tap of the screen, but nothing was catching Miku's ear in a positive light. "They all sound weird. Is this what all American music sounds like?" "Some of it is a bit more mainstream than others. Like this one." Alex explained, stopping her from changing it. A lively pop song called Zero was playing. "It's not that bad." Miku said. "Yeah. This is a bit more regular." Alex parked car in front of a small restaurant.

They both got out of the car and walked into the restaurant. As they entered through the double doors, Miku inhaled through her nose, and started to feel a little hungrier. "This place smells really good." They got in line, and eventually placed their order. Miku, not knowing much about the place, allowed Alex to order for her. They got their drinks and sat across from each other at a booth. Miku looked around the restaurant a little more, taking in the small but pleasant and quaint setting.

"How're ya doin, Miku?" "Good. How are you?" "Good." They shared a brief smile. "How're you liking America so far?" Alex asked her. "It's interesting." Miku answered honestly. "In a good way or a bad way?" Alex asked next. "A little of both." Miku answered. "Fair enough." Miku nodded at this. "Yeah."

"This is a nice little restaurant." Miku said. "Not as the nice as the ones where I'm from, but still it's decent enough." She added. "It's a decent place. Food's great, the place just isn't exactly the most high end, you know? You're from Japan right?" Alex asked. Miku nodded. "What's it like there?" "It's nice. A lot like here, but cleaner. It smells different too. There's more trees." Miku described. "Sounds nice. I'll have to check it out someday." Alex said.

Their conversation was cut short by their burgers and fries arriving, being set down in front of them. Alex removed his jacket and bandana, setting them aside next to him on the seat. Miku studied the burger a bit before picking it up and taking a bite. Alex did the same. "This is pretty good." Miku said after swallowing her first two bites. "Mhmm. This is my favorite little burger place." Alex said. "I can see why. It's tasty." "Mhmm." Alex agreed enthusiastically.

After some more savory bites of their food, Alex had another question to pose. "So I have a question." "Yes?" "So, I was looking you up and I saw that you were a Vocaloid. What exactly does that mean?" "It's complicated." Miku said. "Oh. Just the basics then?" Alex suggested. Miku nodded. "Basically, I'm a humanoid. I look and function like one, but I don't sound like one. Me and the other Vocaloids were created, instead of being born naturally. I'd go more into detail, but it gets more complicated. Does that answer your question?"

"Yeah, basically. So you actually do sound like that?" Alex asked, referring to her singing. "Yes." Alex's eyebrows raised. "Wow. I thought it was just autotune or something. We don't have any engineering like that in America. How many Vocaloids are there?" "As of this point? About 49, if I'm correct." "Wow. Ya'll must be popular over there." Miku nodded. "And you're the most popular." Alex said.

"Well of course. I was the first successful one." Miku said. "Must be nice." Ale said passively, taking another bite of his burger. "What do you mean?" Miku asked, somewhat confused by his tone. "Being the face of an industry, having it easy, loyal fans." Alex described. "I think loyal fans might be a bit of a stretch." Miku muttered, diverting her gaze out the window. "Well, when I say loyal, I mean people are willing to give your music a chance before making a choice on it. Truth is people are fickle. No one's gonna always like you nor your music." Alex said generally.

Miku sighed. "Yeah. I guess you're right. "Hmm. But I guess that's the very reason that we're here now." Alex said. Miku tosses this around in her head, and nodded. "Yeah." Alex nodded as well, finishing his burger and getting to his fries. Miku took a sip of her drink quietly.

"I've been losing touch with my fans lately." Alex admitted. "How do you do that?" Miku asked with a bit of surprised. Alex shrugged it off. "Well, just stuff happening." He answered. "Oh." Miku said, finishing her food a bit quietly. "Yeah. It's been hard bouncing back." Alex said. "Well, I hope this will help you do so." Miku said supportively. "If all goes well, I think if will." Alex said, with a bit of a smile. Miku smiled as well, looking down at her drink. "Same." She agreed.

"Well, we should really be getting back now. It's close to noon." Alex said, standing up. Miku nodded, grabbing her handbag and standing as well. Alex pulled his bandana and jacket over, putting them back on after cleaning his hands with a napkin. Miku briefly took notice of how gently he handled the bandana, but just as quickly changed thoughts. "This was nice." She said to him. "Yeah. Glad we could do it." Alex said sincerely. Miku hummed in agreement.

***

Noon rolled around. Hiru, Alex, Miku, and now Kathy, all gathered in Miku's hotel room for their meeting. Alex opened the door for Kathy as she entered. "Hello everyone." Kathy said as she entered. Miku waved a bit, sitting on the edge of her bed. Hiru nodded to her with a smile. "Nice to see you again, Hiru. And nice to meet you, Miku. I'm Katherine, Alex's agent." Kathy introduced herself to Miku. They shook hands. "Nice to meet you too, Katherine." Miku said.

They all took their seats. "Let's get started then." Kathy said. They all nodded. "I spoke with Miku's production team. Thank you Hiru for providing their numbers. They conducted a few different polls to see what fans want. There's been a steadily increasing desire amongst Miku's fans, not just in the US but in Japan also, for Miku to sing covers of a few American songs. Alex, your demand for the very same thing is up too." Kathy began by explaining. "American music? They want me to sing American songs?" Miku asked in disbelief. "Lots of big name American artists go on international tours, and that increases interest. Eventually, people start wanting a bit of a musical culture blend. Hearing their favorite artists sing those songs is one way to do that." Kathy explained. Miku frowned at this. "I don't think I like that." Miku said. "Why not?" Hiru asked her. "Because American music is just awful."

Alex nearly choked on the water he was drinking. Miku merely shrugged at this. "I'm just being honest. I don't like it." "Why not?" Kathy asked calmly and patiently. "It's just awful. It's loud and vulgar in my opinion, based off of the compositions I was exposed to today." Miku explained. Alex was shocked at first, then leaned back in realization. "Ohhh. She heard some rap and country on the radio when we went out to eat." Ale explained. Kathy cringed a bit in understanding. "Those aren't the best examples." Alex commented.

"It was all I needed to hear. I'm incredibly hesitant to hear anymore of that stuff." Miku said. Hiru simply sighed. "We'll come back to it. What else is there?" Hiru asked. "Um, Miku's producers also told me that they want samples of these two and their collabs. Say, one to three songs to be tested and screened. If they like what they hear, then we may have enough backing for a full project." Kathy answered. Miku nodded quietly, and Alex hummed in thought. "Yes, Alex?" Kathy asked. "Nothing. Just thinking about possible options." Alex said.

Kathy nodded and sat back. "Those are the two biggest things Miku's producers had to input." Kathy said. "Sample songs and American music." Hiru summarized. Miku sighed, seeing she wasn't likely to escape having to do American music. The thought of it made her unhappy. "It's doable, but it depends on what you're willing to do, Miku." Kathy said to her. This surprised Miku, but it also gave her hope that she could get out of it. "I still don't like it." She said firmly. "Alex?" Kathy asked, turning to him.

Alex thought for a moment. "Perhaps if you're willing to give it another try, I can find much better music for you to go off of." He offered. Miku gave this some thought. After all, Alex was an American who'd found success of making this type of music. He may have a better idea of what he's talking. She agreed with a nod. "Fine." "Okay. Well, it's a start." Hiru said. Miku stayed quiet for the moment, and so did Alex. Kathy and Hiru both noticed the tension, especially once Alex and Kathy exchanged glances. "Come on, Hiru. Let's let these two talk things out." Kathy said. Hiru nodded, and the two exited the room.

Alex adjusted himself in his chair. Miku folded her arms and crossed her legs. "Vulgar and loud, huh?" Alex started. "That's the only way I can describe it." Miku shrugged. "About American music, after only hearing maybe five songs?" Alex pointed out. "That's all I needed to form my opinion about it." She said firmly. "Well, what could I do to help expand your mind on it?" Alex asked, taking a different approach. Miku just shrugged again. "All American music sounds the same to me. It'll be difficult to change my mind about it. You'd have to show me music that is different from what I heard, and better." Miku stated. "Give me two days. I'll find something." Alex said confidently. "Fine then. Then we'll see if you'll convince me otherwise." Miku agreed to the deal.

"There's more I wanted to discuss with you, now that that subject has been dealt with for now." Alex said. "What else?" Miku asked, glad that subject was pushed back for now. She had no stomach to talk about it further. Alex cleared his throat. "We gotta talk about writing lyrics for the instrumental I played for you earlier. Once it's done, which I'll probably have it done by tonight, we gotta get started on it." Alex said. "Alright." Miku said with a nod.

"I was thinking about possible topics for the song. One that stood out that I thought you'd might like would be singing about something we both have a passion for." Alex explained. "Like what?" "I don't know. What's something we both do that we've a mutual passion for?" Alex asked with an ironic chuckle. "Singing?" Miku suggested. "And performing onstage." Alex added. "Sure. That's something." Miku said with a slight nod. "Well, I've got my laptop on me. We can nip it in the butt right now if you want." Alex suggested. "I don't see why not." Miku said.

***

**6:00 pm.**

Alex and Miku finished their room service dinner as Alex wrapped up the instrumental on his laptop. After one last time, listening through it, they nodded. "I think that's good." Miku said with a nod. "Yup. Instrumental's done, and I like how the lyrics turned out. What do you think?" Alex asked. "I agree." Miku said with a small smile and a nod. Alex sipped his drink and closed his laptop. "I'll let Hiru and Kathy know we got one done, see if she can get a space for us to record sometime in the next few days." Alex said. "That'd be nice." Miku said, stretching.

"That wasn't so bad." Miku commented. Compared to her other recording sessions, she enjoyed the more involved experience combined with being able to do it on a comfortable bed. "Yeah. Not bad for 5 and a half hours." Miku was surprised. That much time had gone by? "It didn't feel like that long, though." She said. "No. Time really flew." Alex said, laying on the bed and stretching. "That it did." Miku said, sitting back on the bed. Alex yawned and laid on his side. "Tired?" Miku asked. "Just fatigued." "Right. Was there anything else you wanted to do then?" "No. Not tonight." Alex said.

Alex sat up after a few moments. "It just occurred to me, your English is a lot better than I thought it would be." He said. "I was programmed that way. And I've had practice with Hiru and my friend Taiga in English as well, so that helps as well." Miku explained. "Ahh okay." Alex said with a nod of understanding. "Yeah. I've a basic knowledge of all languages. I've just only really used Japanese and English." Miku explained further. "Showoff." Alex teased. Miku smirked a bit, amused. "Maybe." "We can talk when you get a good understanding of music in other languages." Alex jabbed, standing and stretching. "Sure." Miku said quietly.

Miku yawned again. "Well, I'mma probably get going. I'mma just use the restroom first." Alex said, going to the bathroom and shutting the door. Miku sat back comfortably on her bed. Her phone vibrated. She check the text. It was from Taiga.

 _"Hey_ _Miku_ _!"_

_"Hey"_

_"How's your day been?"_

_"Pretty good. Yours?"_

_"Just started_ _lol_ _whatcha_ _do today?"_

_"Wrote a song."_

_"Ooh with the non arrogant stupid prince or no?"_

_"Yeah_ _lol_ _him"_

 _"_ _Lol_ _and how is he?"_

_"He's fine. We've been working on one of the new songs. We just have to record."_

_"Nice!"_

Alex came back out of the bathroom, brushing his hair back a bit with his hand. He grabbed his stuff. "Well, I'mma head home. See ya Miku." "Bye Alex." Miku said with a wave. Once Alex had left, Miku let Taiga know that she could talk on the phone. It didn't take long for her to make the call.

"Hey Miku-chan!" Taiga exclaimed with a giggle. "How are you T?" "Good! You?" "Doing pretty good, just tired." "It's like 6:30 over there right?" Taiga asked. "Just about, yeah." "Wow. It's about 10:30 in the morning here." "The time differences are so weird." Miku said with a chuckle. Taiga laughed. "Haha right? So tell me all about your day." Taiga said.

"It was pretty fun, actually. Alex and I hung out at the pool, went to get something to eat, then we spent the last 5 hours or so writing the lyrics to our song." Miku summarized. "Ooh a whole day with the prince? I sense a scandal." Taiga joked. "Do you, do you really?" Miku asked sarcastically. "Wait till the press hears this. 'Miku stays in hotel with American singer!'" Taiga laughed. "You might be behind the ball on that one." Miku said. "Am I? Am I really?" Taiga asked. "Probably." Miku answered.

"So, the prince still hasn't flirted with you yet?" Taiga asked. "I don't think so. Either he hasn't, or I haven't caught onto it yet." "Maybe he's a hint dropper." Taiga suggested. "I haven't picked up anything, though." "Well then maybe you're just stupid." Taiga concluded. "Well ouch." Miku said before laughing. Taiga burst out laughing as well. It took a bit for the two to calm down.

"Haha. But seriously, maybe he's just not interested in you like that...yet." Taiga said. "Yet?" Miku asked. "I don't know. Guys are weird. Maybe he's gay? Who knows?" Taiga said. Miku chuckled. "There would be only one way to test that theory." "How?" Taiga asked. "If I tried to flirt with him." "Pfft as if." Taiga said. Miku raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean "as if"?" "Do you even like him?" "Nnope." "Exactly." Taiga said. "I still have to test him." "Ohhh." "Mhmm. I must know." Miku said.

"Good luck with that one." Taiga said. "Well thank you for your support." Miku said in a joking tone. "Haha. Well, see ya Miku." "But wait, you just called!" Miku whined extensively. "Yeahhh. Is there something else you wanted to talk about?" Taiga asked. Miku paused for a few moments. "I don't know. I could think of something." She said. "I don't know." Taiga said.

Miku groaned. "Fine. You go have a good morning and stuff, while I sit here and order some food and watch TV and go to sleep." Miku said. "Haha sounds the life." Taiga laughed. "It is." Miku said. "Night Miku." Taiga said. "Night Taiga." "It isn't night here." Taiga pointed out. "Ugh. You and your technicalities." They chuckled again. "Bye." "Bye." Miku hung up and set her phone down.

As Miku ate, she didn't pay much attention to what was on TV. She was busy chuckling to herself as she recapped her conversation with Taiga in her head. She thought about what she told Miku about flirting with Alex to find out if he liked her. She shook her head and, unbeknownst to her, was blushing slightly. Miku sighed, turning everything off and laying down. She settled underneath her sheets, recapping her time with Alex in general now. Her first impression of him had been critical, and now that she'd gotten to know him better, she felt it starting to shift. Finally, she fell asleep, wondering where her feelings about him truly lay...


	7. Chapter 7

Another morning in Colorado Springs. This time around, Miku was up a little earlier than usual. For some odd reason, she had decided to get up herself and get her breakfast from the breakfast room herself. It didn't make her happy to do it, but she still did, and now she had finished her breakfast on her bed. With little interest in what was on the TV, she was bored. That is, until her door opened and Kathy came in.

"Hello Hatsune." She greeted. "Hey Kathy. What are you doing here?" "Well, Alex is at a show and Hiru went with him, so I figured you and I could spend a day. Get to know the area better." Kathy proposed. "I don't have much else to do, so I guess we could go do something." Miku said, getting up. "You have anything in mind?" She asked Kathy. "I was thinking we could go up to Garden of the Gods for a walk." "Garden of the Gods? I think I've heard of that place. Hiru probably mentioned it." "It's a beautiful place. I think you'll like it." Kathy said with a smile.

***

After some freshening up, Miku and Kathy got in Kathy's car and she began to drive to up Garden of the Gods, with Miku in the passenger seat. Miku laid back in her seat, listening to her music through one earbud. Her phone buzzed. She looked down. It was a message from Kaito. Miku rolled her eyes and read it.

 _"Hello_ _Miku_ _."_

 _"Hello_ _Kaito_ _."_

 _"I was speaking with your production team earlier, looking to see how I could help with your recent decrease in interest. And then they told me you were in America._ _Haha_ _. What are you doing there?"_

_"I have an American partner that I'm working with to increase interest in my music. Problem?"_

_"An American partner??_ _Hiru_ _really pulled some strings didn't he? Whose the partner?"_

_"Prince Alex."_

_"Oh. How horrific."_

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"That name. It's a desperate cry for attention."_

_"_ _Kaito_ _. Shut up. That's very rude."_

_"Feisty. And so defensive. Is there something I should know about you and this prince?"_

_"There's nothing. But you're being very rude to my partner and I cannot accept that."_

_"_ _Haha_ _okay then. I'm glad you say that. I was worried you had forgotten about us being a couple in the future."_

_"As if that's gonna happen.""Whose to say it won't? The media wants it, I want it, your fans want, your team wants it, and somewhere deep down, I think you do too."_

_"I told you what I thought of being with you. I would NEVER be even slightly interested in you. I don't care who the hell wants otherwise, because it will not happen. I'd sooner go with Alex than you, and I just met him. That's sad, isn't it?"_

_"You keep on working_ _Miku_ _, and I'll keep your secret safe for now. Take it as a kind gesture. But I wouldn't be so sure you'll never come around. Who knows? Maybe something will change your mind."_

 _"_ _Tch_ _. I doubt it."_

At this point, the car had reached Garden of the Gods. Kathy parked the car, and the two got out. Miku irritably shoved her phone in her pocket, trying to forget the conversation as quickly as possible. She grumbled to herself as they started walking down the sidewalk, and Kathy quickly took notice.

"You okay, Miku?" "Just some roach I haven't been able to get rid of." Miku said with a sigh. "Mhmm?" Kathy hummed questioningly. "It's a long story." Miku said with a quick wave of her hand. "Well, you don't have to tell if you don't want to, but I'm listening if you do." Kathy reassured as they entered Garden of the Gods. Miku sighed, then decided to go ahead and tell Kathy. She seemed trustworthy.

"It's Kaito. He's the main man behind the Vocaloid industry, and the public and media have been trying to get us together. I have no interest in him whatsoever, which I've made very clear, but Kaito is all for it. He just texted me because he found out I was working with Alex. Now I think he's trying to get me with him again. I told him off, again, and told him I'd rather be with Alex than him." Miku ranted.

"Sounds like the disagreement between you two is heated." "It is. But Kaito just won't quit. That's one of the reasons I was so weary about working with Alex, because I assumed he'd be just as bad. But he's totally different, and I truly appreciate that about him." Miku admitted honestly. Kathy nodded. "That's good. Alex has never been one for letting the spotlight make him lose his humility." "It's hard to find people like that. I know I'm not one of those people." Miku said with a bit of a sad sigh. "It's all about the choices you make. It's a difficult trait, but a learned one. And as for Kaito, don't worry about what he wants. He's far away now, and Alex and I won't make you do anything you're not comfortable with." Kathy reassured. Miku nodded appreciatively. "Alright."

"Let's not worry about that now. It's not important at the moment." Kathy said, and Miku nodded in agreement. "You're right." "To change the subject, how'd it go with Alex yesterday?" Miku smiled a bit. "It went well. We got a whole song finished. All that's left to do is to record it." Kathy's eyes lit up. "That's great! What did you guys end up doing?" "Just an original song. Alex already had the music, and we wrote the lyrics yesterday afternoon." Miku said. "What is it about?" Kathy asked curiously. "Performing, basically. It's called Spotlight." Kathy nodded. "Nice. I'll have Alex run me through it. In the meantime, I may be able to get a location for us to record tomorrow." "That'd be really nice of you." Miku said.

"It's just how we do things. Alex and I, I mean. He does the production on his side, and I book him studios and gigs." Kathy explained. "Oh wow. That's some partnership you two have." Miku said, impressed. "Yeah. It's unorthodox, don't get me wrong, but it works well for the both of us. And it is like a partnership." Kathy said. "And it sounds like it works too." Miku said. "It does. It works very well." "Nice." Miku said, smiling a bit. Internally, she was thinking of herself and Hiru, and she found herself thinking about what it would be like if she and Hiru had a partnership like that; she liked the way it sounded.

"This is a beautiful place." Miku said, looking around and taking in all of the majestic rock formations. "It is. It's a big tourist attraction too." "I wish we had more stuff like this in Japan." Miku said, almost surprising herself as the words escaped her mouth. "Take pictures, that way you'll always have it with you." Kathy suggested. Miku quickly took out her phone. "Good idea." She began taking pictures, and selfies of herself, and with Kathy.

***

Meanwhile, over at the Pikes Peak Center, Alex and Hiru were escorted to Alex's car. They entered the car, and Alex drove off. Going out the back parking, they turned around to the front, and were able to see all the attendants of Alex's show exiting out the front. Alex smiles a little bit, as though he were a painter admiring his just finished masterpiece. Hiru was smiling as well, having had a front row seat to the full show. He had had confidence in Alex, but after seeing Alex's show, he was fully confident.

"So what'd you think?" Alex asked Hiru, as he pulled further away. "I think that you were a good choice to help out Miku." Hiru said with a nod. Alex smiled a little. "Thanks." "It's true. I think you two are going to sound great together." Hiru smiled a bit. "I hope so. It felt good to be back up onstage. Maybe this'll help get some positive momentum going." Alex said. "It should." Hiru said. He received a message, and he checked it, then relayed its contents aloud to Alex. "It's Kathy. She says she's at Garden of the Gods with Hatsune, and to bring food for a picnic." He said. "Sure. We can make a quick stop." Alex said, turning into another street.

"Speaking of Miku, I'm curious, what exactly did you do to get her over here?" Alex asked. "Booked the flight before she had a choice to refuse." Alex laughed a little at this, then changed back to a questioning tone. "So wait, she'd no idea who she was to be working with?" "She did when I first told her about the trip, a week before the flight." "Okay. Cause the other day when I played her the instrumental she seemed genuinely shocked, like she was assuming it to be bad. What does she actually know about me, as an artist?" Alex asked. Hiru shrugged. Miku never was interested in music outside of her own. She's never heard your music, nor does she know anything about you. From what I know, that sample you showed her is the only thing she's ever heard from you." Alex's eyebrows rose in shock, and he shook his head a bit.

"That's something you might wanna talk with her about." Alex suggested. "She won't listen to me. You could suggest it to her, however. She seems to have taken a sort of liking to you." Hiru observed. "I guess. Wouldn't that be a little awkward though?" "How's that?" Hiru asked. "It's just weird, asking someone to listen to your own music. Especially since my music has taken off some, it's like...I don't know how to explain it." Alex rambled. "You think it'll make you look arrogant or prideful about your music. Is that what you mean?" Alex snapped his fingers. "Yeah! That's it! I'm proud of my music, but not arrogantly so, you know?" "Of course." Hiru said with a nod. "I understand why you're hesitant to do so. I'll suggest for Hatsune to listen to some samples of your music." "Thanks. That'd probably be more appropriate." Alex said with a nod. "I agree." "Now, let's go get some picnic food." Alex said.

***

It was another half hour or so before Alex and Hiru walked into Garden of the Gods, carrying drinks and separated food items for making sandwiches. Miku and Kathy were at a bench, sitting and talking as they waited. Miku caught sight of them first, and the four met in the middle. "Hey. We brought food." Alex said. "Finally. I'm starving. What did you bring?" "Stuff for sandwiches, soda, and some fruit." Alex answered. "Let's find a place to sit and eat then." Kathy said. They found a hill to sit at, and they sat in a circle. Miku set her phone down in her lap.

"How was your show, Alex?" Miku asked. "It went great actually. Better than expected. It was pretty packed too." "And the press?" Kathy asked. "Talked to them after the show." Alex answered. Hiru nodded. "He did really well." He said with a smile. "That's great. I wish I could've been there." Miku said, now regretting her laziness.

"It's alright." Alex said reassuringly. Hiru then proceeded to add: "I believe that you could probably find some footage online." "I probably could." Miku said with a shrug. "It'd be something." Alex said, shrugging a bit as well. "It would be." Miku said with a nod. "I'll look it up later." Miku decided. Alex and Hiru glanced at each other and nodded. The four began to eat.

"These are really good." Miku said after preparing her sandwich and eating it. "Mhmm." Alex agreed. "So is there anything else on the agenda today?" Alex asked. "Well, nothing actually, unless you guys want to do some more writing. The recording will be tomorrow." Kathy answered. "We should just relax then." Miku said. "Agreed. We can worry about writing another day. I still have to put a playlist together for Miku." Alex said. "I'll have it ready tomorrow." He added. "I'm curious to see what you put together." Miku said. "Just some of my favorite songs." "Interesting. We'll see then." "Yes we shall." Alex said.

Kathy chuckled, and Miku couldn't help but smile a bit as well. "So, how're ya'll liking the Springs, now that you've seen more than just the hotel room?" Alex asked both Miku and Hiru with a chuckle. "It's beautiful. I like the scenery, and the food's not too bad either." Miku answered with a smile. Hiru nodded. "I agree with Miku." Miku glanced at him with a smile, then took another sip of her drink. She reiterated. "It's just really nice here." She checked her phone for another text, then set it back down in her lap.

"Expecting a message, or just sneaking a pic of me?" Alex asked jokingly, placing a hand behind his head and pretending to pose. Miku chuckled and shook her head. "You wish. I'm hoping not to get any messages though, but with how this morning started out, I wouldn't be surprised. Just a bit anxious, I guess." Miku answered passively. "Everything alright?" Alex asked, a little concerned. "It's fine. Nothing to get worked about. It's not the first time I've had to deal with him." Miku muttered. "Him?" Alex asked with furrowed eyebrows. Miku looked down at her drink and sighed a bit, then explained the situation to Alex.

"It's complicated. Basically, the public wants me to be with this guy behind the Vocaloid project, and although he's all for it, I've told him countless times no. He messaged me this morning because he heard I was working with you." Miku concluded, gesturing to Alex. "Kaito's been bothering you again?" Hiru asked with an annoyed sigh. "That sounds irritating." Alex commented. "It is." Miku nodded. "Some people just don't know when to quick, huh?" Kathy said. "There's nothing I can do about it either." Miku said, folding her arms. "Who needs him? You're doing fine on your own." Alex said.

"I don't know what he's fully capable of though. He's the head of the whole Vocaloid industry. I think he might take matters into his own hands if I keep refusing him." Miku said, a little fearful of what that could mean for her career. "Hmm." The others hummed, wondering what to do. "Like I said, not much I can do about it besides to go along with it." Miku said with little hope. "When there's a will there's a way. He may be the head, but he doesn't have you in the palm of his hand either." Alex said. "This is something that takes time to work out." Hiru said to all of them. "This has been going on for years. Kaito's so used to getting what he wants, I doubt he'll quit. There's nothing to do to work it out." Miku said, frowning deeply.

After some deep thought, Alex made an effort to comfort her. "Don't be so pessimistic. Hiru managed to get you here, so that's already a tell-tale sign that there's a work around." He said. "That's true. If he had you under contract, this would've never happened." Kathy said. Hiru simply smiled a bit and nodded; he already knew all this. Miku nodded slowly. "Alright then."

"Mhmm. It's a work in progress, Miku, but don't fret over it too much." Hiru reassured softly. "I'll try not to." Miku said in return. Hiru nodded, and they resumed eating...


	8. Chapter 8

Alex and Miku entered the recording studio that Kathy had rented out for them. They looked around it, taking in the big space, the two padded booths for recording, and the sound engineering equipment in the next room. "This looks really nice." Miku commented, nodding. Alex whistled and laughed a bit. "Nice work, Kathy." He said aloud. He added: "And everything is actually set up this time. Top notch stuff. Guess we just gotta wait for the sound engineer to show up."

A woman with long and dark hair entered the sound engineering room. Alex and Miku looked over at her. She quickly set up, then waves at them through the glass with a smile, giving them a thumbs up. "That must be her. This should go well." Miku said. Alex and Miku took their places in the booths, putting on their headphones and turning on their microphones. "This isn't too different from my studio back in Japan." Miku said. Alex nodded.

"Hey guys. My name is Molly. I'm filling in for the head sound engineer here. I'm training with him. I'll handle everything on this end. Also, huge fan of you Prince Alex." Molly said into a mic that transmitted to their headphones, a little shy but also very excited. Alex smiled at her. "We're gonna run through this one track a few times to get all of our layers. Make sure to transmit everything to my laptop. And thank you, Molly." He gave her a thumbs up, and she grinned. The red recording lights went on inside their booths, and the instrumental started.

\--------------------------------------------------------

(Miku)  
City to city. When the people flock. I wanna give them a good show, even though it's not never so. On stage...what you see is what you get, it's something you won't forget and it goes past what you expect.

I don't do this just for fame although that is a part of it, I don't do it for the money, I wouldn't make that bet. When I stand in front of all of you, you see just who I am. It's where I'm home, where I feel right. Under the spotlight. Under the spotlight. Under the spotlight. It's where I'm home, where I feel right.

Under the spotlight.

(Alex)  
Not for fame. With or without it, I'd still entertain. I'm not about changing who I am for the people who think that they can own me. On my own I still stand alone.

I don't do this just for fame although that is a part of it, don't do it for the money, no I wouldn't make that bet. When I stand in front of all of you, you see just who I am. It's where I'm home, where I feel right. Under the spotlight. Under the spotlight. Under the spotlight. It's where I'm home, where I feel right.

Under the spotlight.

(Both)  
Not a slave. Not a burden. Just a way I can do what I like and love too. And I welcome all that comes with being...

Under the spotlight. Under the spotlight. Under the spotlight. Where I feel home, where I feel right.

Under the spotlight. Under the spotlight. Under the spotlight. Where I feel home, where I feel right.

\-----------------------------------------------

After a few runs of the instrumental, during which Alex and Miku sung their lyrics, added harmonies, and a freestyle or two, Alex and Miku were finished. They entered the sound engineering room, where Alex took a selfie with Molly from her phone for her to keep. "Everything's in the computer. Great job you guys. Thank you!" Molly said happily before leaving Alex and Miku alone in the room. Miku smiled a bit at it, and Alex chuckled.

"I think that went very well." Miku said, taking a sip of water. Alex nodded. "I agree. Now let's see what we've got here." He said, sitting down at his computer with the tracks saved to his music production software. He plugged in two sets of headphones, his and Miku's, to it, and played the vocal tracks, one by one individually.

"I like it so far." Miku said with a nod. "Me too. We're both on pitch, and our voices actually blend together quite nicely." "I agree. This is gonna sound really good when it's done." Miku said confidently. Alex hummed in agreement, a small smile of his own. "We make a pretty great team." "Yeah we do." Miku agreed. "Just gotta make a few small timing edits, but this should be done in an hour I'd say." "Wow that's incredible. I wonder how it'll sound once everything's finished." "Going off of this, I'd say it's gonna be great." "Right?" Miku chuckled. Alex began his work. "Let me know if you hear anything that you like or don't like while I'm working." Alex requested. "I will." Miku said.

True to his word, Alex finished in almost a full hour. Once all the edits had been made, Alex and Miku listened closely as the finished product was played all the way through one last time. Miku clapped a bit once it had finished. "That's fantastic!" She exclaimed. "It sounds awesome. High five for a good song done!" Alex said. They high five and laughed a bit.

"You're really good at this. I've never actually seen anyone put a song together like that. Normally I just record and then I let the team do the rest." Miku said. Alex chuckled a bit. "That's usually how it goes. I used to have a team too, but eventually we had a parting of ways because the sound just wasn't quite coming out how I wanted. I think I said that already though." Alex said. "I don't recall." Miku said after thinking for a bit. "But I think that's really cool, how you're able to do it all yourself. Is it fun?" Miku asked. "I find it fun. It can be tedious, but it's worth it in the end. It took some time to learn and get good at it, but I do enjoy it." Alex said with a nod. "Nice." Miku responded with a smile.

"That was fun." Alex said. Miku hummed in a greement. "Ooh, I almost forgot, I have the English songs I collected for you on me. I put them on my old iPod. You can listen to them while I do some more work." Alex said, pulling his iPod out of his pocket. "Alright then." Miku said, taking the iPod and listening to the music. Alex worked while she listened.

Miku was surprised. After what she had heard on the radio, she was sure that she wouldn't like what Alex was to give her any more, but she did. She liked the songs quite a bit actually. With no way of way of knowing how old the songs were or who made them, she took them all at face value with what they have to offer, and she did indeed enjoy the songs. She almost considered lying to Alex just to avoid him saying he proved her wrong, but she decided that she hadn't lied to him yet and she shouldn't now, considering the effort he probably went through in finding these. She took off her headphones. Alex noticed that she had finished, and turned to her, waiting silently in anticipation.

"They weren't that bad." Miku said cooly, handing his iPod back to him. He took it with a little smile and a nod. "Any you liked in particular?" "Probably the second and third one." She said. Alex took a quick look at the playlist. "Jealous and Stereo Love? Nice." He said with another nod. "Mhmm. I wouldn't mind doing songs like that." Miku said. "Well that's good. Maybe we could do one of those songs for the demo." Alex suggested. "That'd be nice." "Which one do you wanna do?" Alex asked. The decision was hers? Another pleasant surprise. Miku gave it some thought. "Jealous." She decided. "Alright. I'll talk to Kathy about it." Alex said. Miku nodded.

"Well, we're just about done here." Alex said, running his hands on his thighs. "That didn't take too long. Didn't feel like it, at least." Alex checked his watch. "We've been here almost four hours." "A little long, I guess. We got a lot done, though." "For four hours, yeah we did. You wanna go and get some dinner now?" Alex asked. "Sure, why not?" "Alright. Got anything specific you want?" He asked. Miku shook her head. "Nah." "Alright. I've got a restaurant we could go to then." Alex offered, gathering his things. "That sounds nice actually." Miku said with a smile.

***

 _"So how's America,_ _Miku_ _-chan?"_

_"A lot better than I thought it would be. Not missing Japan, however."_

_"Not missing Japan? Quite a bold statement."_

_"Well you're still in Japan,_ _Kaito_ _, and I'm in America. You put the pieces together."_

 _"_ _Hahaha_ _."_

_"Why are you interrupting my nice dinner?"_

_"A nice dinner?" "Yeah. One I'd like to enjoy without you bothering me."_

_"I thought you were supposed to be working with the Prince."_

_"It's not any of your business to know what I do with my spare time."_

_"Feisty. Something you're not telling me?"_

_"Just leave me alone_ _Kaito_ _. This is my vacation away from you."_

Alex shut his phone off after finishing his conversation with Kathy. He looked up at Miku with some concern present on his features. She looked agitated and uncomfortable as she typed furiously on her phone. Alex sighed a bit. Their food had already been served by Kia, their host. Kia was an older asian woman, a grandmother whose grandkid loved Hatsune Miku. After some pleasant conversation, Miku happily took a picture with her and autographed a napkin for the cute little 8 year old girl that Kia described as being her grandchild. It was sweet. Now her expressions had completely shifted. Alex ate a fry. "Whose texting you?" He asked.

Miku looked up from her phone, and immediately her eyes winced in a sort of apologetic way. "I'm sorry. It's rude of me to be texting while we're here." "It's okay. You seem off kilter though. Whose texting you?" He asked again. "Kaito." She answered. "What does he want?" "Heck if I know." Miku said. Alex hummed in thought. "We should find a way to shut him up." Alex said. "Ha. I've been trying to shut up for years." Miku said, waving her phone in her hand with an elbow on the table. Alex eyed it, and hummed again.

Alex got up and sat down by Miku, and wordlessly held his hand out, gesturing for the phone. Miku shifted her glance a bit questioningly, but still handed him the phone. He slid it open and opened the camera, holding it up for a selfie of them. "How about a big smile for Kaito?" Alex said mischievously. "You're crazy." Miku said. Alex held a peace sign up to his eyes and smiled with a wink. Miku did the same, feeling a little tug of excitement. The picture was taken, and Alex quickly had it sent to Kaito.

"Let's see what he says now." Alex said. "Kaito's not gonna like this." Miku said. "I know." Alex said with a smile as he sat back down on his side. "I wanna see his response." He added. "I'm holding my breath." Miku admitted with a laugh. Alex laughed as well. Miku finally shut off her phone and set it down in her purse. She smiled at Alex, and he smiled back. They both turned their attention to their food. "This steak looks really good." Miku said. "The fries are awesome too." Alex said. They began to eat.

Kaito never did respond...


	9. Chapter 9

  
**9 am.**

For a change since she had arrived, Hatsune Miku had already gotten up AND fully dressed. Of course, this time around, she had a legitimate and compelling reason to do so. Dressed in water shorts and a light blue sweater over her top, she came down to the lobby of her hotel with a bag over her shoulder. There she found Alex waiting for her, wearing water shorts of his own and a sleeveless white shirt. He smiled at her and stood up. She smiled back.

"Morning Alex." She greeted him. "Morning Miku." He said. They turned and walked side by side out of the hotel. "Have you eaten yet?" "Nah, I didn't feel like it yet. I'll eat later." "Perfect, cause I bought some breakfast on the way." They approached his car, and got in, Miku in the passenger seat. They buckled up and Alex pulled out of the parking lot. "What'd you get?" Miku asked him. "Just some egg and cheese sandwiches, hash browns and soda." "Ah okay. Sounds good." "Mhmm. Since we've got another free day, we're headed up to Denver. It's about an hour away, so get comfy."

"Denver? What's in Denver?" Miku asked, looking at him. "Oh tons of stuff. Shopping centers, aquarium, the Broncos football stadium. We're headed up to an amusement park called Elitch's." "Oh wow!" Miku exclaimed, bringing a chuckle out of Alex. "What's that for?" He asked. "That's a lot of stuff." "It's a big city. Elitch's is the biggest thing we're gonna hit, but depending on the time we have, we may be able to hit some other stuff too." Alex said, pulling onto the highway. Miku sat back. "I'm excited to see a bit more of this place." "I think you'll like what you see." Alex said with a smile. Miku chuckled a bit and glanced at him. "So far, so good." She responded.

***

An hour passed, and finally Alex's car entered the city. Miku looked around, excited like an awestruck tourist, which she technically was. "Ooh it's pretty." She said. "Mhmm. Last time I was up here was a concert a little under a year ago." Alex said. He made a turn towards the Sports Authority Stadium, and there was Elitch's amusement park right next to it. "Is that it?" Miku asked, pointing to it. "Yep." "Wow. How big is this place? Are you sure we'll have enough time for all of it?" Miku asked. "Haha. I don't how big it is, but we'll be able to go through all of it and do the fun rides." "I hope so. It's been a while since I've been on rides like these." Miku said. "Same." Alex said with a nod as he parked the car.

Miku wore a big grin as the two walked into Elitch's, sunglasses over their eyes and bags on their shoulders. Alex looked at her and laughed a bit. "Haha you look excited." "I am really excited." Miku said with a giddy chuckle. Alex opened up the map of the park, and held it open for her. here's a map. Take a look and see what you wanna do first." Miku took the map and glanced over it, studying all the rides. "Hmm. It might be a bit too early for water rides at the moment. Can we go on a rollercoaster?" "You've got first pick." Alex answered.

"How about that one?" Miku asked, pointing to a ride called the Slingshot, which looked like a ball attached by strings to two towers. "You got money?" Alex asked her. "I do." "Great! Then you can pay!" Alex said jokingly. "Such a gentleman." Miku fired back, laughing. Alex laughed out loud. "I'm just kidding. You can pay for yours, I'll pay for mine." Alex said. "Better." Miku said with a nod of agreement. They laughed again. "Let's head over there then." Alex said, and they began the walk.

As Alex and Miku took their place in the line, she looked up at the Slingshot and felt a tinge of reconsideration. The ride was tall, and intimidating too. "It's not as intimidating on the map." She commented to Alex. "What exactly were you expecting?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow and a little grin. "Not this. I mean, I'm not scared or anything, just...observing." Miku said. Right." Alex said with a hint of sarcasm.

The two people in the ride at that moment were launched up suddenly, making Miku cringe. She didn't look up to watch it. Alex did, and whistled in reaction to it. "Wow." He said. "Y'know, maybe this ride wasn't a good idea." Miku suggested. "Sorry what was that?" "Just nervous." Miku said. "Gonna chicken out?" "No." Miku answered, glancing sideways at Alex. "I'm not going to chicken out." Miku said. "You suuuure?" "Yeah." She answered again, setting her jaw out stubbornly. Alex raised his eyebrows and matched Miku's sideways glance with one of his own. "Not backing down?" "You heard me." Alex simply laughed some more.

The next pair of people were launched, making Miku flinch again. "Only one more pair before us." Alex sang a bit. Miku's hands got fidgety. "You can still bail." "You can if you want to." Miku said. "Nah." Alex shrugged confidently. "I've been on this before. It was a dare from Kathy." Alex chuckled. "Oh." Miku said. "Yeah. It's a great view. It just spins." "It spins?!" Miku asked, going a little paler. "Yeah. Watch." Alex said as the pair in front of them were launched. Miku watched the ball this time, and was even more squeamish now.

The ball came down again and reset. "Our turn now!" Alex exclaimed. "Oh goody..." Miku muttered as they got in and sat down, and the officials strapped them in. Miku clutched her straps. "You okay?" He asked. She nodded nervously. "Yeah." "You're shaking a bit." Alex said, holding out his hand to her. "I'm fine." She said quickly, but she still took hold of his hand. He chuckled. "Sure. Just count to five. Close your eyes too." Alex teased a bit. "I'm scared to close my eyes." Miku admitted, gripping his hand a little tighter. "Sleeping must be hard." Alex joked in response.

The Slingshot launched them up high into the air with little warning. Miku stiffened as they quickly went up. She screamed, shutting her eyes tight and holding on to his hand even tighter. Alex was laughing and whooping loudly next to her. Miku tried to stay still as the ride bounced up and down on the elastic strings. She continued to stay rigid as the ride came down slowly to the ground; Alex's laughter had yet to cease. Miku laughed weakly as they got out. "You sounded just like an auto-tuned chipmunk." Alex laughed, crying a little from how hard he'd been laughing. They walked away from the ride, Miku walking a little shakily. Finally, they let go of each other's hands.

It was Alex's turn to choose now, and he chose a ride called the Rapids. They were close to the end of the line when Miku felt a tap on her shoulder, and it hadn't come from Alex. She turned around, and her eyes fell on three teenage girls all about her age, wearing big smiles. They bounced excitedly. "Oh my gosh! Hatsune Miku?!" One exclaimed, seeing it was really her. "And Prince Alex?!" Another said. They all got frantic with excitement. Miku laughed a little, politely. "Oh boy..." She muttered under her breath.

"Gosh we're all such big fans of-of both of you!" The third girl said, gesturing to both of them. Alex smiled a bit, charmed. He leaned against the nearest rail. "Awesome." He said. "What are you doing in America?" The first one asked Miku. "I'm doing a musical collab with Prince Alex." She answered. "Really?!" They all exclaimed. "Mhmm." Miku hummed, cringing a little. "That's awesome!" They all said. The line moved up, but the girls were right behind them. "Can we get a picture?" They asked. "Sure. Do you mind?" Miku asked Alex. He still had that smile. "Of course not." He answered, holding the girl's phone. The girls squealed, stepping in close to Alex with Miku kneeling in front of him. "Say selfie!" Alex said before smiling wide.

"Selfie!" They all said.

Alex and Miku waited right by the ride, waiting to get in. They waved to the girls as they went to the next ride. "We're so happy we got to meet you both!" They said. "Haha see ya." Alex said. They turned away, and Miku exhaled. "I haven't had a fan approach me like that in a while." She said quietly to Alex. "Same. I've forgotten how funny it is." "It is, but it's really loud too. They almost matched my pitch." Alex laughed. Miku chuckled. "It hurt MY ears." She continued, smiling at how hard she was making him laugh. "Hahaha ooh that's funny." Alex said with an amused sigh. "Yeah it is." Miku said with a grin.

They sat down on the ride and quickly got strapped in. "This is nice." Miku said, looking down at the water below, which the ride was floating on. "What's this ride supposed to do?" Miku asked Alex. "Get you wet." Alex answered. "Oh how delightful." Miku grumbled a little as the ride fell off the gentle section and onto the actual rapids section. They were tosses and spun around for several minutes, getting splashed in the back with cold water. Just when she thought it was over, they got hosed down with several tubes pouring out water, until they were soaking wet. Their clothes were dripping when they exited the ride.

Miku shivered, hugging her arms. "Interesting." She said. Alex laughed, shivering a bit himself. "That was awesome." He said. Miku smiled a bit. "That was fun. I'll have to wring out my hair, but I had fun." "You said you wanted to do water stuff." "Yeah, I know I did." Miku said. "Well don't complain then." Alex said, before commencing a mock impression of her. He leaned his hip to one side and placed a hand on it, talking in a higher pitched voice. "Ewgh I have to wring out my hair because it's all wet." Miku rolled her eyes. "Hey, you don't have several feet of hair hanging off your head." She pointed out. "True, but I don't have to wring it out like a mop and pick up my knees to keep from stepping on it." Alex teased. "Then I have reason to complain. I didn't choose to be created with this, you know." Miku said. "True." Alex said with a shrug.

***

After several more rides, including a carousel and a carousel-esque set of swings that Miku especially enjoyed, they were at the water rides now, where they rode several more rides. Now they were relaxing at the pool on chairs, laying back and resting, almost fully napping. Miku had her headphones on now, and was fully relaxed with her music. She sighed contently; it had been a really good day. She didn't keep track of how much time had passed nor how long she'd been laying there.

Alex tapped her arm. Miku removed her headphones and opened her right eye. "Yeah?" "Just got a call from Kathy. She says that we can do the Jealous cover, but we have to do it today." Alex said, cringing a bit. "Today?" Miku asked. He nodded. "Will we have time by the time we get up there?" "Its towards the middle of the afternoon, so we have a few hours." Alex answered. "Alright, we should get going then." "Hey, we've still got some time to hit a few more rides." Alex pointed out. "Are you sure?" Miku raised an eyebrow. "Of course I'm sure." "Okay. What are we doing next?" "You decide." Alex said, handing her the map. She looked at it. "What about those spinny things?" Miku suggested. Alex looked at it on the map. "Oh that one? That one's my favorite. Or at least, one of the them." "Let's do that one." "Alright. That isn't too far from here." Alex said. They quickly gathered their things.

Alex and Miku sat down in the ride; the line was shorter than they expected. Side by side, they scooted in fully. Alex rested an arm on the back of the ride, behind her. Alex glanced at her. She turned fully to him with a warm smile. "This has been really fun." She said, smiling thankfully. Alex turned to her and returned the smile. "I've been having a fantastic time with you." He said up front. Something about the way he said that made her grin. "I hope we can do more like this soon." Miku admitted. "I'd love that." Alex said. "Me too." She agreed.

Wow. How things had really turned around...

***

Alex parked the car at the recording studio. The long drive back was over now, and lucky Miku had been able to sleep through the whole thing in the passenger seat. He turned the car off, and Alex unbuckled his seatbelt. He turned to look at Miku, and saw how out of it she was. He watched her for a few long moments before getting out and coming around to the passenger side. He opened her door, crouched down, and gently shook her. She stirred sleepily, and her eyes fluttered open. She yawned and stretched a bit. "Are we here?" She asked. "Yep." Alex said, helping her out.

"Sleep well?" He asked as she fixed her hair and wiped her face. "Mhmm." She hummed with a nod, still waking up. "I could tell. You were moaning and talking in your sleep, sighing and slobbering everywhere." Alex described. Miku laughed. "No I wasn't." "Smacking your lips like a cow eating grass." Alex continued. He proceeded to smack his lips very loudly, over exaggerating his jaw movements. "I did not!" Miku giggled, playfully pushing him. Alex responded with a loud: "Moooo!!!" Miku laughed again. "Shut up!" "You first." Alex retorted. The two entered, still messing with each other.

They entered the recording space, where Hiru and Kathy were waiting for them with bags of food from McDonald's. Alex clapped his hands and rubbed his palms together. "Mmm I'm starving." He said as they all sat a table. Kathy chuckled. "Hello to you too." Alex smiled sheepishly, but still dove his hands for his food. "I'm starving too." Miku said, doing the same. Hiru simply smiled. "Smells good." Miku said, looking down at her food. "So, where'd you two get off to?" Hiru asked them.

"Oh we were up in Denver. Elitch's." Alex answered. "Ahh." Kathy said with a nod. "You guys have a good time?" Kathy asked. "It was awesome; I haven't had that much fun in a long time." Miku answered with a smile. Alex smiled too, a little proud of her answer. He took several large bites of his food, showing off his hunger fully. "Stop inhaling your food." Miku teased. "I can't help it. It's good." Alex said after swallowing. The rest of the meal consisted of Alex and Miku telling Kathy and Hiru all about their day and all the fun things they did. Once they were done, they went on to record Jealous.

***

Alex took Miku back to her hotel, and they went up to her hotel room, still teasing each other. "How're you hungry again? You JUST ate!" Alex said as they walked to her room. "Yeah, but I didn't scarf down all my food like you did." Miku responded. "Well, I finished my food, didn't I?" "Yeah, and I'm surprised you didn't choke." Miku said with a chuckle. Alex laughed a bit. They reached her door, and Miku opened it, turning and leaning against the door frame facing Alex.

"I guess our work here is done for now." Alex said." "Yeah, I suppose. Today was fun though. I really enjoyed it." Miku said sincerely. "I did too." "We should do it again soon." "Oh yeah definitely." Alex agreed. "Thanks again for today." "You're welcome." Alex said with a smile. Their was a brief silence, which Alex awkwardly acknowledged. "So, I guess this is bye for now?" Miku said to break the silence. "Unless you want me to spend the night here." Alex joked. "That's not necessary." Miku said, rolling her eyes. "I figured as much." Alex chuckled, leaning against the door frame. He was closer than he'd ever been, but Miku didn't mind as much as she thought she would've.

"Hey, so I wanted to ask you something." He said. "What's that?" "Do you think your production team will give us the green light based on what we made?" This question surprised Miku. Well, it was the way he asked it that surprised her. He sounded...a little uncertain. Miku decided to put that to rest. "Yes, I think so." She said certainly. Alex nodded. "Alright." "Yeah. Don't worry too much about it. We did quite well working on this stuff, so I don't have any doubt about it." Miku said. "Good." Alex nodded. He suddenly smiled a little.

"If we get the green light, we'll be working together more extensively. Who knows where that might go?" Alex said with a shrug. His eyes twinkled a bit. Miku shrugged as well. "Don't know, but it'll be pretty interesting, I know that much." Miku said with a chuckle. "Mhmm. Well, goodnight Hatsune." Alex said, pushing off the frame. "Goodnight Alex." Miku said, waving a bit as she entered her room. The door closed and locked behind her.


	10. Chapter 10

Miku got out of her bed the next morning, brighter and earlier than usual, of her own free will of course. She stretched, yawned, then grabbed her phone to see if she had any new messages. She had one from Hiru, asking her to meet him at the cafe she had eaten with Alex at. She sent him a reply agreeing to the meeting, then got dressed in her normal outfit.

There was a knock at her door, which she wasn't expecting. She made her way to the door, adjusting her tie first. She looked through the peephole. There was Alex, waiting for her on the other side in a T-shirt and cargo shorts. She opened the door to him, greeting him with a sincere, pleasant smile.

"Morning Alex." She smiled. "Morning Miku! I'm here to drive ya to the cafe." Alex said, fixing his shirt. "I figured." Miku chuckled. "Let me finish getting ready, and then we can leave." "Okay." Alex nodded, entering her room and sitting on the edge of her bed. Miku proceeded into the bathroom, putting on her finishing touches and fixing herself up. Fully ready just a few minutes later, she walked out.

"Okay, we can go now." Miku smiled. "Yes, Princess." Alex joked. Miku chuckled. "Well someone's starting to get the memo." "Only because I chugged the lyrics to World Is Mine into Google Translate." Alex admitted. They exited her room, heading down towards the lobby. "It's not my fault you're not multilingual." She shrugged. "I'm bilingual. I just don't know Japanese." "What languages do you know?" She asked.

"English and British." Alex answered with a smile. "Don't brag about that too much. People might get jealous." Miku said dryly, holding back her amusement. "We wouldn't want that now, would we?" Alex chuckled, unlocking his car. They got in.

***

Miku, Alex, Hiru, and Kathy all sat down at a booth in the cafe; Miku and Alex on one side, Kathy and Hiru on the other. "Morning you two." Hiru greeted them with a smile. They exchanged their greetings. "Katherine and I were just discussing the success of completing your demos. I've sent them down to Miku's production team already, so now all we need is their approval." Hiru nodded.

"Alright. Think we got a good shot?" Alex asked him. "I do." He nodded. "I told you so." Miku said to Alex with a grin. She continued on. "We should start looking for more songs and stuff to get ready for when they say yes. A couple more days' work, we can have a few more covers ready or something." Miku said excitedly. "That'd be fun." Kathy agreed.

"I think we should do that other song from your playlist next, Alex. While we wait a bit, you can show me other songs, and we may be able to get some more recorded within these next few days." Miku suggested further. Alex nodded, fully in agreement.

Hiru's smile faded, and he cut in. "Well, actually Miku..." She turned to him. He sighed. "...this is our last day in America. We leave for Japan tomorrow."

The table went silent for a solid minute.

"Why?" Alex finally asked. "Kaito demanded it. He booked the flight and everything. He forced me to pull Miku and bring her back." Hiru quickly explained. "Why??" Alex asked again. "Pictures of the two of you out and about emerged online, and Kaito doesn't like what's come of it. He took up Miku's contract in his demands, and he's now planning on enforcing a new rule that states that that Miku can only perform and collaborate with other Vocaloids." Hiru sighed.

"Can he do that?" Kathy asked in surprise. "From what I was presented with, yes he can." Hiru answered. "So that's it then?" Alex expressed his frustration, sitting back. "Yeah..." Hiru frowned. Miku frowned deeply as well. "That's not fair." She muttered. "No it isn't." Alex agreed. "I knew he'd do something like this." Miku muttered again.

"I went ahead and sent the demo to Miku's production team anyway. I don't know how much good it will do at this point though." Hiru admitted. "At least it'll be something." Kathy tried to be positive. "We'll be leaving tomorrow morning, Miku." Hiru said to her directly. She nodded silently, deeply disappointed. "It was good while it lasted, I guess." She muttered after awhile.

It was a silent brunch.

"Where do we go from here then?" Alex asked Kathy, unsure of what to do. "I'm not sure yet." That was all Kathy could answer. Hiru rubbed his eyes. "I'm sorry about this." He said to everyone. "It isn't your fault, Hiru. No need to apologize." Alex said. Miku simply folded her arms and sat back, upset. Hiru nodded quietly. "We'll figure something out at some point." Kathy said.

"I hope so." Miku said. Her eyes flickered to Alex. The excited plans that she had just eagerly made, and the joy that had come so far with working with him; she didn't want that to go away. It wouldn't be fair for all that to be lost, not while they were just getting started. Miku's eyes fell back down into her lap. Everyone nodded silently in agreement with her.

"So now what? We just have a last day together and then it's all over?" Alex asked bitterly. "For now." Hiru answered honestly. "I guess we can go back to Elitch's." Alex said, trying to make things more positive. Miku perked a bit. "That'd be good for you two." Kathy agreed with a nod. "We can definitely go back if you're willing." Alex said to Miku. She quickly nodded her head. "Yes."

***

It was two hours after their meal when Alex and Miku finally arrived at Elitch's again. As they entered, they deliberated on where to go. They decided to go to the water park first, and ride the ferris wheel last. Sharing warm smiles, they made their way to the water park, having already gotten their water clothes. After making sure everything was accounted for, they went into the water park.

They rode each and every slide, fast and slow. They drifted side by side on rings through the lazy river. They dropped down the toilet bowl. It was funny when they went up to their first ride, and Alex was told that he had to remove his shirt. It was a pleasant awkwardness, although Miku wouldn't have admitted that. He was more in shape than he looked with his baggy shirt on.

Miku cherished every minute of her time there with Alex. They didn't discuss work or the fact that Miku was going back to Japan the next morning. Those two facts melted away very quickly in fact. All that mattered was that they were both having a good time and enjoying each other's company, and that's exactly what happened, without a doubt. She didn't want it to end, and she could only hope that Alex felt the same way.

The two of them stood in front of their last water ride, the biggest and tallest of the all. It was several stories tall. The top of it was a toilet bowl that fell into a large half pipe, which led back down into a dark tunnel. Every rider that came out was soaking wet from head to toe. It was without a doubt the biggest and most intimidating of all the water rides there. Miku swallowed.

"Woww." Alex nodded. That pretty much summed up her feelings about it as well. "I'm intimidated again." Miku chuckled. "I'm not holding your hand all through this long line." Alex teased. Miku laughed. "That's fine." She said. They got in line. 5 minutes passed. 10 minutes passed. 15 minutes passed. They were still waiting, just now approaching the stairs leading up to the ride.

"Oh my goodness this line!" Miku groaned impatiently. "Ugh I know." Alex agreed. "Maybe we can play a game to pass the time?" He suggested. "What game?" "I don't know. We can make one up." Alex shrugged. "Okay. Any ideas?" "Nooo." Alex shook his head. "Maybe we could just sing some tunes." Alex threw out there. "In the line?" Miku's eyebrows popped up in surprise. "Yeah." Miku shrugged. "I don't see why not." She said with a smile.

"We can make a game out of that, actually." Alex said. "I'm listening." Miku nodded slowly. "We can sing lyrics back and forth, but we can only use one sound for each syllable. If we laugh or mess up, we lose." "That sounds fun! What song should we do?" Miku asked, already liking the idea. "Just a song from the English playlist I guess." "Okay. You go first then." Miku said.

Alex pondered a choice as the line moved up. He began to sing the tune to the first two lines of Jealous, only usinh the sound "Uh". Miku carried out the next two lines fighting back a small smile, using the sound "Ha". Holding back his own smile, Alex did two lines of the pre-chorus using the sound "Eh". Miku fought back a giggle as she continued with the sound "Ugh". Alex composed himself for the next two lines, using the sound "Merf". Miku attempted to do the next two lines, but burst out laughing.

"You messed up!" Alex laughed, finally giving into the strong urge to laugh. "I know!" She exclaimed, laughing. They laughed and laughed, getting some funny looks from people in the lines as they went up.

***

The two were laughing as they finally reached the top, since Alex had royally screwed up and burst into a giggle fit all in one turn. Miku, already in a heavy fit of laughter, managed to compose herself. "This is fun." "This is." He agreed. They finally calmed down, goofy grins on their faces.

They turned towards the ride. "Our turn to go." He said. "Wow, that was actually pretty fast." "Uhuh." Alex nodded. They got on, and the attendant aligned them and pushed them along. They drifted around the toilet bowl, then plummeted down then up then down the half pipe, screaming the whole way. They rushed into the closed section, getting sprayed down with water as they drifted through. Finally, they came out the end of the ride.

Alex wooped in wild laughter as they got off. "That was awesome!" "Yeah!" They both exclaimed. They laughed their way back to their things, gathering everything together. Alex looked at his watch. "Wow, it's been a few hours." "Has it really? It doesn't feel like it." Miku said in surprise. "Yeah. It's been three hours. Look." Alex said, holding out his watch then pointing at the sun, which was beginning to set.

"Oh wow. Will we have time to do the ferris wheel?" Miku asked. "The park closes at like 8 tonight, so we still got like two hours." Alex reassured. "You wanna just do it now?" He asked. "I wanna save it for last. What other rides are there." "I don't know. There's this one laser maze thing I wanna do." Alex brought up. "Let's go check it out then!" Miku smiled.

***

Alex and Miku laughed as they walked away from the maze, which Alex had been kind enough to pay for. "I didn't do too bad. What, three times I tripped the alarm? I'm practically a spy." Miku laughed. "Yeah! You did fine. Only slightly worse than the last time I did it." Alex laughed. He'd only messed up twice. "Oh thanks, I feel so much better." Miku said dryly before giggling. Alex chuckled and checked his watch.

"It's about 7. We should head to the ferris wheel now, so we can catch the sunset." Alex suggested. Miku nodded. "That sounds like a plan." Alex took hold of Miku's hand, to her surprise, and they hurried to the ferris wheel. It took them a minute or two to reach the line to the ferris wheel, and a few minutes later, they were seated on it and on their way up.

"It's a lot taller than it looked when we were waiting." Miku chuckled. "You get intimidated easily." Alex teased sarcastically. She chuckled. "I'm actually really excited about this. This'll only be my second time on a ferris wheel." Miku said. "Yeah?" Alex asked. "Mhmm. I was much younger last time, but I absolutely loved the view then. I so wanted to do it again and see the sunset and everything." "Well, it looks like you'll get your wish then." Alex smiled a bit. She grinned.

They reached the top of the ride and stopped. The two looked west, and there was the sun setting behind the mountains. Her eyes glittered in awe. "Ooooh." She sighed softly, admiring the beautiful view. "It's absolutely breathtaking." She said. Alex hummed softly in agreement.

For a minute, Alex's attention went elsewhere, to the other people on the ferris wheel. They mostly consisted of couples from what Alex could tell, hugging and kissing romantically. Alex's lips pursed awkwardly. He felt very out of place sitting there with Miku for a bit. He did his best to ignore it.

"Not a bad last day, huh?" He asked, focusing his attention back on her. "Probably one of the best days I've had in a long time. Thank you very much for this, Alex." Miku grinned widely. Alex smiled. "It was my pleasure, Hatsune."

"Would you mind if I hugged you?" She asked suddenly. Alex was surprised by her question, but his face didn't show it. Still, he didn't respond. "I mean, I don't know if it would be a bit awkward or something." Miku continued, slowly trailing off.

Alex put his legs down from the seat across from him and sat over on Miku's side of the carriage. Resting his right arm behind her, he stretched out his left arm to her. She leaned into his chest and wrapped her arms warmly around him. He did the same, holding her to him. A faint smile tugged at her lips, and she closed her eyes. They sat there silently for a while, watching the sunset.

"I wish I didn't have to leave." She said, staying in his arms. He sighed. "Yeah. Me too."

***

**9:35 pm.**

Alex parked his car in the hotel parking lot. He shut the car off and sat back in his seat. He looked to his right. There was Miku in the passenger seat, fast asleep. He watched her for a few moments before shaking her lightly to wake her up. Her eyes fluttered open, and she lifted her head. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. "We're here?" "Yeah."

They got out of the car, and shut the doors. Silently, Alex walked Miku through the lobby, in and out of the elevator, and to her hotel room. Miku slid her keycard in and opened the door. She turned back around to him and smiled faintly again.

"Thanks again." She said. "No problem." He replied, leaning against the door. He was more comfortable getting closer to her now. He peeked into her room and saw the suitcases sitting on her bed. "Your stuff is already packed." He observed. Miku's smile faded. "Yeah. We're leaving very early tomorrow." She nodded.

"Yeah. Lemme get your number, so we can stay in touch." Alex said. They exchanged phones and exchanged numbers. "Aweome." Alex said, pocketing his phone. "I'll text you tomorrow... Since I won't get to see you tomorrow, this is goodbye." Alex said. "Okay. Goodbye Alex." Miku said quietly. They hugged tightly.

"Don't be too upset. I doubt this'll be the last time we see each other." Alex reassured. He let her go, rubbing a hand on her arm. She nodded, fighting the urge to let her eyes fall to the floor. "I hope so." She said. Alex paused awkwardly, hesitating to do anything. Finally, he willed himself to lean forward and kiss her on the cheek. "A little something for the flight." He played it off.

Her eyes widened, her cheeks flushed, and she blushed heavily. "O-oh." Alex couldn't help but chuckle. "Look whose speechless for once. Take care, Miku." Miku smiled a bit, still blushing. "You too, Alex." They paused for another few moments. Finally, Miku lightly kissed him on the lips before retreating into her room and shutting the door.


	11. Chapter 11

**Tokyo, Japan. 7:30 am.**

Miku stepped off her private jet, her bag over her shoulder. Hiru followed behind her. Waiting for her on the strip were Rin, Gumi and Taiga. They waved at her when they saw her, and hugged her when she reached them. "We got here before the media!" Taiga exclaimed. "That's a first." Miku chuckled.

"They don't know you're back yet." Gumi explained in a hushed tone. "Kaito made sure of that." Rin said neutrally. "Of course he did." Miku's eyes darkened, and she frowned. "Yeah." Rin said, rubbing the back of her head. "Gumi and Rin told me what Kaito did. Sorry." Taiga said, shaking her head.

"It's not your fault. Kaito, however, is about to get a piece of my mind, and I sincerely hope he's prepared for that." Miku grumbled. "Can't say I feel bad for him." Taiga said with a shrug. "I know I don't." Hiru said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Miku took a moment to calm herself.

"Let's head back to the limo, and you can tell us all about your trip!" Gumi said.

Inside the limo, once all of the bags had been packed and they'd all gotten comfortable, the girls prepared themselves for Miku's story. "Sooo tell us all about it." Rin said, patting her hands in her lap. "Well, it's a long story. I couldn't tell you everything in one sitting. Is there anything in particular you wanna know?" Miku asked.

"What's he like??" Gumi asked anxiously.

"He's very sweet and nice. I expected him to be a jerk like Kaito and other guys that I've worked with in the past, but he was completely different. I could actually stand to be around him." Miku said with a chuckle. "Awww." The girls all cooed in chorus. They all bursted out laughing. "Well it's true!"

"What did you guys record, and how'd that go?" Rin asked. "We recorded an original song that he wrote the music to, and we wrote the lyrics together. And then we recorded covers of two American songs that I liked." "Which ones?" Gumi asked. "Jealous and Stereo Love were the covers, and the original song we named Spotlight." "Sounds cool!" Taiga said.

"I'd never heard of Prince Alex before you told me and Gumi about you going to America. What type of music does he make?" Rin asked. "Pop, R&B, Hip Hop, and some EDM." Gumi quickly listed. Miku nodded in agreement. "I'll have to hear it sometime then." "You totally should, Rin!" Gumi encouraged.

"What else do ya'll want to know?" Miku asked. "Did you get a picture??" Gumi asked. "Well, there is one..." Miku said, pulling out her phone and pulling up the picture that Alex had taken of them then had sent to Kaito. She showed it to them, then spent a little time looking fondly at the picture.

"Looks nice." Rin said. "Man, I wish I could've met him too!" Gumi said. "I wish you could've. He really is something else." Miku said softly, setting her phone down in her lap. "Somebody's in looove." Taiga teased. Miku blushed. "What are you talking about? I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Look at her face! She's totally into him!" Taiga teased further. Rin smirked. "Looks like you got more than you bargained for in America, Hatsune." "I don't know what you're going on about." Miku coughed once. "Ooooh she was gettin some!" Gumi teased. They all laughed, dancing around in their seats. The limo filled with laughter, and Miku's face went red.

"There was nothing like that!" She said, hitting Gumi on the arm. "But there was something." Taiga pointed at her. They all leaned closer to her in anticipation. "Technically I didn't say there was anything." Miku pointed out. "Oh shut up and tell us what happened." Rin said. Miku smiled. "Well...I kinda sorta...kissed him." Miku admitted quietly.

The girls all cooed loudly again. Hiru simply chuckled and shook his head. Miku blushed heavily and smiled meekly. "You are SO frickin lucky Miku!" Gumi exclaimed jealously. Miku smiled, then sighed. Her smile faded away.

"I wouldn't say that. I don't know if I'm gonna ever see him again. Kaito's gonna do everything and anything to keep that from happening, I just know it." "That's terrible!" Taiga said. Miku nodded silently in agreement. "It is." She said finally.

The limo suddenly stopped, parking by an outdoor diner. Miku looked out the window in surprise. She could see Kaito in the diner, dressed in a black long-sleeve shirt, jeans, a black scarf, and sunglasses. Two security guards opened the door to the limo. Kaito gestured for her to join him at the table for two. She glared at him, but got up and walked to the table. She folded her arms, and didn't sit down.

Kaito fixed his sunglasses. "I'm sure you're angry with me. Please, have a seat, Miku." "I'd rather not. I want to know what the hell your problem is, Kaito." Miku said angrily. "I did a little research on your new partner, Miku, and I was very concerned by what I found." Kaito sat back.

"What are you talking about?" Miku raised an eyebrow. "Tell me, Miku, what did you know about Prince Alex going to America?" Miku shrugged. "Just that his career was hitting a rut." "Did Hiru tell you why his career had declined?" "No." Miku said. Kaito adjusted his seat, and gestured again for Miku to sit. She did so reluctantly.

"Sometime over a year ago, he was tried in court for alleged sexual misconduct with a minor, younger than you as a matter of fact: 12 or 13." Kaito answered, folding his hands on the table.

Miku's voice faltered. "What?"

Kaito pulled out his phone, and after a minute, he showed her an article covering the trial. Miku took the phone. The picture showed Alex dressed in all black, exiting a courthouse with a grim expression. Miku read through the article and frowned deeply:

_According to the article, Alex had allegedly had sex with 13 year old Valerie Martinez, who had a backstage pass to his concert that night. They met, and she was back there by herself, since her mother didn't know she'd gone. They went back to his hotel room, and went for nearly an hour without supervision. Kathy, Alex's manager, declined to comment on the situation until after the charges were dropped during trial. The jury determined that there wasn't enough evidence to prove he'd done it, so he was rendered not guilty by lack of sufficient evidence. Reportedly, despite the verdict, Alex's image and momentum flatlined after that, and he went into a period where he drank a lot and no music was being made._

"I was concerned for you. Not just your image, but your safety, Miku." Miku swallowed and nodded silently, looking over the pictures in the article, which depicted many heart wrenching pictures of Alex in tears at the courtroom. "I'm sorry it had to be done this way." Kaito said sincerely.

"I'm going to look more into this. There's two sides to every story, and I know the media well enough to know that this may not be the full story." Miku said, handing his phone back to them. Kaito nodded. "If you must." He said. Miku sighed.

Miku got back in the limo, and it pulled away again. The girls were all waiting in anticipation. "What happened?" Hiru asked. "I prefer not to talk about it right now." Miku said. "What'd Kaito talk to you about?" Gumi asked. Miku shook her head. "Just a bunch of BS."

***

Miku sat in her hotel room. It was barely noon, but she felt like it was nighttime. She still needed to accustom to Japan's time zone. She sat up in bed with the blinds drawn, making the room as dark as possible. She held her phone in her hands, and the paper with Alex's number. She sent him a quick 'Hello. It's Miku' text, then waited...

_Hey Miku :) How was your flight?_

_Hey :) Glad to hear from you. The flight was nice. I slept through most of it. Everyone was asking about you lol_

_Lol me?_

_Lol yeah. Um, hey, can I ask you something important?_

_Yeah?_

_Well, idk how to respectfully ask this, but were you really tried for sexual misconduct?_

_Oh, that. Yes I was. I won those court battles though. Where'd you get that information from?_

_The same person that pulled Hiru and me out of America._

_Kaito told you, huh?_

_Yeah. He said he pulled me out because 'he was worried about my public image and my safety'_

_Mhmm?_

_Yeah. It's a bunch of bs. He's just trying to get me to stop having any affections for you. And Gumi says hi._

_Hiiii Gumi._

_Lol I'll forward that to her. I'm sure that'll make her happy._

_Is she a fan?_

_You have no idea._

_Lol betcha I can make her fangirl. Gimme a few minutes..._

While Miku waited, she started texting Gumi, telling her that Alex said hi. Text characters couldn't accurately convey the happiness she was feeling, or at least that's what she said after a mess of emojis and exclamations. Then she received a picture of Alex.

The picture was of Alex in his hotel room, laying on his bed facing the camera. He's looking up at the camera slightly, with beady eyes and a soft, sweet smile. His shirt was off, so his shoulders and full arms were visible. Sitting on the bed next to his elbow was a card with a heart on it, and Gumi's name written in cursive in the middle of the heart.

Miku giggled, and snorted a bit in laughter. She forwarded the picture to Gumi, and eventually received a few small texts conveying that she was suffocating and couldn't breathe and that her face was as red as a tomato. Alex sent another text.

_Did it work?_

_It worked XD_

_Yeahhh!!!_

_Lol she can keep the pic btw_

_I'm sure she already has it on a mural on her wall XP_

_LOL_

_Lol you're too much Alex_

_Jaja can't believe that worked so well_

_I betcha she keeled over_

_Lol_

_Yeahhh lol it's a cute pic. I can kinda see why she's acting like this now_

_Lol kinda? How stubborn :P_

_XD I know I'm stubborn_

_Just admit it. You're fondling my face with your eyes XP_

_No I'm not XD_

_LOL_

_Lol well I need some sleep. Ttyl Alex_

_Night bae :P_

_Lol bae?_

_Haha look it up :P Night_

_Night Alex_


	12. Chapter 12

It had been awhile since Miku had taken part in a press conference, and now, she found herself wishing it were over as soon as it were started. She wasn't in the mood to be asked questions, so this what literally the worst place to be right now.

In front of her: a large crowd of reporters holding out microphones. Cameras flashing pictures of her. Lights everywhere. Miku took a deep breath, forcing a smile. She pointed at a reporter.

"Miku! Whose decision was it for you to go to America for the collaboration with Prince Alex?"

"My agent was the one that suggested it would be a good idea to do so, and I went along with the decision." She answered, pointing at another reporter.

"Is it true, Miku, that you didn't want to go? Would you say you were forced to?"

"At first I didn't want to go, that's true. But my agent knows what was best for me and my career and eventually I was happy with the overall decision. And truly, I wasn't really forced to go, as I could've refused to go. A part of me knew it would better me to go along with it, and I'm very glad that I went to America for the collaboration." Miku said honestly, pointing to another reporter.

"What led to you changing your mind on it?"

"Well, the experience itself was amazing. The views were simply beautiful, and the local area was very nice. And not to mention that Prince Alex was nothing short of a gentleman, and did his best to make sure that my visit went well and that I was comfortable. I really enjoyed it there." Miku nodded, pointing to the next reporter.

"What caused you to leave so quickly then?"

Miku paused, not wanting to say something that could be taken the wrong way.

"There was a misunderstanding with the head of the Vocaloid industry about Prince Alex, is all."

"About?" A reporter asked.

"No comment." Miku quickly answered.

The reporters began to murmur. Miku's heart started to beat a little faster. They all knew perfectly well that Kaito was the head of the industry. She waited with a neutral expression while the noise died down.

"What's your current standing on your professional and personal relationship with both Kaito and Prince Alex?" A reporter asked suddenly.

"My relationship with Kaito is and will remain strictly professional. My relationship with Prince Alex remains professional as well." Miku said with a slight nod.

"With the recent uncovering of the photos of you and Alex at an amusement park, a lot of people are questioning your relationships with both of them. Was the amusement park visit part of your professional relationship? How would you like to comment?" A reporter asked.

Miku inhaled quickly, but did not let it show.

"Alex was showing me the local attractions in the area in order to make sure that my visit would not solely be work. My relationship with Kaito, as I've repeated before, will remain professional." Miku concluded.

Hiru quickly hurried up to the platform, speaking into the microphone, "No more questions."

Taking his arm around her, he led her out of the interview tent. The noises of the reporters all clamoring over each other quickly drowned out. They got in her limo and drove away.

"Thank you." Miku muttered.

"Just doing my job. When questions get too personal like that, it's okay to leave." Hiru advised.

Miku nodded. She closed her eyes and sat back in her seat, sighing through her nose.

"Are you alright?"

"I don't know." Miku answered uncertainly.

"Okay..." Hiru nodded, choosing not to question any further.

"Ever since we left America, Hiru, I've felt...sad. I didn't realize just how much I liked it there." Miku finally admitted, looking out the window. Hiru nodded in understanding.

"One day we'll go back. Japan is your home, not your prison."

"It feels like it now, with Kaito as my warden. This crap he pulled with Alex and the court case was just an excuse to get me back here. And I can't believe he's actually enforcing this new rule about performing with other Vocaloids solely." Miku muttered.

"Unfortunately, his contract covers a lot of bases. But not all of them. We'll find a way. I'm looking into it." Hiru said.

"You are?" Miku asked.

Hiru simply nodded.

Miku paused for a moment, looking at Hiru. He went down to his phone and began talking. She watched him for a bit, and felt some...confusion. Some confliction. She suddenly had a question that she felt she should've asked a long time ago...

"You know what I don't understand about you, Hiru?" She started.

"What's that?"

"I've treated you poorly for many years, something I can't apologize enough for. But regardless of what I've put you through, you've still strived to help me and make things work out for me. And I don't understand why." Miku said, squinting and shaking her head a bit.

To her surprise, Hiru chuckled a bit.

"There's been a number of complicated reasons throughout the years. You're my client. I have bills I need to pay. There's some bragging rights there. One reason that's never changed though is wanting what's best for you. And I accept your apology." He said sincerely, smiling sweetly.

Miku smiled a little, and sighed a bit. Her eyes began to water, but it was positive, for once. She was touched, and felt so lucky to have someone who cared so much about her. She decided in her heart that she wouldn't take that for granted anymore.

"Thank you." She said.

"It'll be alright soon. We'll figure it out." He reassured her, taking her hand.

"Okay." She said with a nod.

Hiru's phone vibrated suddenly. He checked his message, read it for a bit, then put it away.

"There's likely to be a rights issue with Kaito's company in the future. We're looking into pulling you out of Kaito's Vocaloid company." Hiru revealed to her.

"Pulling me from the company? How does that work?" Miku asked.

"Well, we have to establish your rights as a legal artist, not a program. From there, it's mainly about finding someplace to sign you into." Hiru explained.

"Oh." Miku nodded.

She thought about it for a bit, and saw no real issues with it. In fact, the changes involved sounded nothing but positive.

"It'll take a lot of working out. The two main issues are establishing your rights against Kaito's hold, and finding a place for you to go. Arrangements are being made, however. The rights issue I think will resolve itself soon, and I have a partner whose helping out with finding you a company to sign into." Hiru further explained.

"The sooner I can get away from Kaito, the better." Miku stated.

"Agreed." Hiru nodded.

Miku's phone vibrated. She checked the message.

"Is that Alex?" Hiru asked.

"Yep."

"I'll leave you to it then." Hiru said with a chuckle.

_I watched you conference. You doing okay?_

_I'm okay, I think._

_Rough week, huh?_

_I can imagine. Kathy was telling me that the press over there is really speculating, and fans are confused on what to believe._

_That's not too far from the truth._

_Yeah :/ Sorry about that. Hiru talk to you about his plans?_

_Yeah. He already told you about it?_

_Yeah. He did. Kathy's telling him about mine right now._

_What's yours?_

_Its a temporary solution, but I think there's a way for us to get around Kaito's new Vocaloid rule._

Hiru chuckled and nodded, "Well I'll be."

_How?_

"Take a look at this, Miku." Hiru said, holding his phone out.

On his phone showed a side picture of Alex, and a closeup of his arm. On it was a tattoo of 3 red number 0's. Miku's phone vibrated. She read the message.

_I'm gonna become a Vocaloid :3_

_What, what!? You are? H-how is that possible?_

_It was my choreographer's idea. All it'll take is some autotune and some specifically arranged papers, but it'll allow us to finish our work. I'm not about to let Kaito's jealously be the reason our careers both hit a rut._

_Wow. I didn't know that was a possibility._

_I didn't either, but the wheels are in motion now._

_That's awesome!_

_I agree :) You'll have to help me get a Vocaloid image off the ground. And a name, I need a name._

_I'd be happy to help :)_

_Actually, how does the name 'Yunikuna Kotae' sound?_ **(Fun Fact: Yunikuna Kotae translates to 'Unique Answer')**

_That's perfect for you!_

_Awesome! That's what it'll be then._

_Nice! :D_

_Yahhh lol chugged that one out of Google Translate XD_

_Not surprised XP_

_Got some stuff to do so I'll ttyl Miku_

_Ttyl Alex_

Alex set his phone down on a folded-out chair. He stood in a changing room at a mall, and was trying on clothes for his recently disclosed Vocaloid look. He stared in the mirror.

He had on a normal white T-shirt (which isn't part of his intended look, whatever that may be), but what he was focused on were his jeans. They were a solid blue color, not too dark, not too worn looking, that were form fitting but baggy around his ankles. They were perfect.

He quickly change back into his black cargo shirts and walked out after folding the jeans. He met up with his choreographer, Jeff, and handed him the jeans to put into their cart.

"These work perfectly. Let's get three pairs just like them."

"Awesome. I gotcha these three vests. Let me know what you think while I go get the jeans." Jeff said, handing him the vests before walking off. Alex took them into the dressing room.

All of them were slightly puffy, but not like bubble jackets, just like Alex had asked. The three color schemes were red and black, black and blue, & white and black. After trying all of them, he made his decision.

Jeff knocked on the door, "I brought the jeans."

"Hey man, pass one over, would ya?" He asked.

Jeff tossed it to him. He caught it and put them on, trying on each of the vests again. His decision was further set in his mind.

He inhaled and exhaled slowly, unzipping the vest slightly. He reached into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out a red bandana.

He held the piece of cloth, staring down at it with a deep level of affection and sentimentality. He brought it to his nose and mouth, closing his eyes and breathing again. He wrapped it around his neck, and readjusted it to fit the vest.

It looked right, but it wasn't complete yet.

"I'mma go with the white one, Jeff. I'll have to ask the tailor if he can attach some kind of hoodie to the back. Like a boxer look before he fights in the ring. You know what I'm talking about?"

"Sounds dope dude."

"I agree. Now I just need boots I can dance in."

"Let's find them then."

Alex changed back into his normal clothes again. They made sure to have three pairs of the vests before heading over to the Men's Footwear section.

"Thanks again for the help." Alex said.

"No problem man. Just make sure that you let everyone know it was my idea." Jeff chuckled.

Alex laughed. Jeff: a white man slightly older than Alex with neck length red hair and green eyes. They'd been best friends in high school, back when Alex was just a normal kid, and Jeff was a better dancer than he was. Jeff had taught him all he knew, and combined with his vocal talents, he made a name for himself, and took Jeff for the ride.

Jeff grabbed a pair of sleek black motorcycle boots. He nodded approvingly as he held them up for Alex to see.

"Ooh those would look good with the jeans. Lemme see em." Alex said, snatching them and putting them on.

Standing up, he walked around in them and stretched out his ankle. He then did a little turn and stood on his toes before nodding.

"They're flexible enough. Still need a little breaking in though." Alex said.

"They work, I'd say. Alright then, three pairs right?"

"We'll go with two. These look like they'll last awhile."

"Done and done. Let's get going." Jeff said.

They headed for the exit.

"Hopefully this all works, huh?" Alex said bluntly. He was feeling some nerves.

"It should. I don't see why it wouldn't." Jeff said with a shrug.

"Well, its all about how the public receives me."

"Nah, I wouldn't worry about that too much either."

"No?" Alex asked, paying for his clothes.

"Nope. I think this'll be a great opportunity to expand your music and stuff."

"True. Plus it'll be a new style, which'll be fun to play with." Alex said as they got in his car. He pulled out onto the road.

"What makes you so confident I'll do well?" Alex asked him curiously.

"Playing around with different sounds is always quite the experience, and with the right knowledge and talent, both of which you have, it won't be too hard, and I'm sure you'll find it to be entertaining, and so will Japan." Jeff answered.

"Alright then, kiss-up." Alex teased.

Jeff shrugged, "Maybe, but I'm just telling it like it is."

Alex and Jeff chuckled a bit.

"I'mma feel like an anime character when this is all over. I can almost guarantee it." Alex joked.

"Well hey, you already got the hair for it." Jeff teased him.


	13. Chapter 13

Miku and Hiru sat on the balcony of a high-end restaurant overlooking the skyscrapers of Tokyo. They ate relatively quietly, sipping lemonade. Miku fixed her sunglasses, sitting back in her chair and looking out over her home.

"How're you doing?" Hiru asked her.

"I'm well. It's just been an interesting week. How have you been?" Miku asked politely.

"Been well about the same." Miku nodded at Hiru's answer.

"Things have started to fall back into their usual pattern for the most part now, so I'm somewhat glad about that. Less things to worry about for the moment." Miku said.

"That's always a good thing. So, there's something that your production team has informed me about that I think you'll be pretty interested in." Hiru said, opening his phone and searching through it.

Miku perked, "What is it?"

"Take a look at this." Hiru said, holding out his phone. Miku took it.

Onscreen was a Youtube channel called 'PrinceAlexVEVO' and the video Hiru had clicked on was 'Spotlight (w/ Hatsune Miku) OFFICIAL AUDIO)'.

Miku nodded slowly, "Oh wow. He posted our song."

"He posted all three of them." Hiru added.

"He did?" Miku asked in surprise.

"Mhmm. The production team contacted me because they found it and saw how quickly they were getting popular." Hiru explained.

Miku couldn't hold back her smile, "Wow. I didn't think that would actually happen."

"I'm surprised as well. And they're getting popular here, not just in America."

"No kidding?" Miku asked.

Hiru shook his head with a bit of a smile, "No kidding. You guys did well."

Miku's smile grew, "I don't know what else to say. Just wow." She said happily.

"Told you." Hiru joked with a chuckle.

"You did." Miku admitted with a slight chuckle.

"That Alex, strange as he is, seems to have helped us both quite a bit. Kathy too." Hiru said with a nod.

"I agree." Miku said with a bit of a proud smile, looking at the video's view count, which had reached several million.

"The production team wanted to congratulate you, and extend that to him, on how well made the songs were. They played it with there best equipment and it held steady." Hiru said with an impressed smile.

"Does Alex already know?" Miku asked.

"Know what?"

"The production team's message." Miku answered, handing Hiru's phone back to him.

"I don't think so. You should probably be the one to deliver it though."

"I certainly will be." Miku said with a nod.

Hiru shifted the subject, "Do you like him Miku? In all honesty?"

"Like him? What exactly do you mean by that?"

"Well, yesterday you had mentioned to your friends that you'd kissed him before parting ways. I guess what I'm trying to ask is if you like him romantically." Hiru elaborated.

"Oh." Miku swallowed, her cheeks turning pink as she thought about it.

"I think that...maybe...I do like Alex." Miku stuttered.

"Alright." Hiru nodded.

"Yeah." Miku said softly, her eyes falling downwards.

"Don't look so guilty about it. There's nothing wrong with feeling that way." Hiru reassured her.

Miku nodded silently.

"Thank you for being honest with me." Hiru said with a smile.

"You're welcome." Miku said, smiling back, but only a little.

"What troubled you so much about saying yes?" Hiru asked curiously.

"I guess...I just didn't want to admit it. It feels weird to say stuff like that out loud. It's different than saying it in my head." Miku admitted, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Is it the first time you've felt this way about someone?"

"...Yes."

"What you're feeling is totally natural. Human even." Hiru said.

"Oh." Miku sighed. The word 'human' didn't come around a lot when describing Miku's life, and to hear it now to describe her feelings for a human...it felt so strange.

"What?" Hiru asked.

"Just...thinking." Miku said.

"Okay." Hiru nodded, deciding it'd be best not to ask anymore questions.

Miku sat back on her bed in her deluxe hotel room. She opened up her laptop, searching up Alex's Youtube channel for herself. She clicked on it.

A new video had just been posted, entitled: 'Levan Polka Dance'.

Miku's eyebrow rose with an innate sense of curiosity. She clicked on the video, and leaned her head back comfortably to watch it.

There he was: Alex. He was in some sort of parking garage, wearing jeans and a white short-sleeved buttoned-up shirt that fell to the top of his thighs untucked.

He grinned at the camera, then turned and ran away. The camera followed him, and the intro to Levan Polka started up. Alex stopped in between two elevators.

He began to step back and forth in a hip-hop style. He stopped. When Milu started speaking, he busted out with a full on routine where he moved his arms and hands while marching.

As the electronic parts came and went, he would shift from marching to hip-hop to dubstep and back again.

Miku smiled fondly at the video, and was still smiling when it was over. She put a like on the video. She watched it again.

After the second time, Miku looked at the thumbnails for some of his other videos in the Suggested section. The most video was called 'Acquainted'. She clicked in it.

The video turned out to be a montage of different clips of Alex performing at different shows.

"Oooh." Miku watched with intrigue.

As the song progressed, things became more suggestive. A few clips showed Alex taking his shirt off while body rolling, dancing dirty with a background dancer, and even posing in the rain.

Miku's eyes widened, and she giggled softly.

The song came to an end with one more shot of Alex walking offstage with his shirt in hand. He glanced up at the camera, winking smoothly before the video faded to black.

Miku suddenly found herself squealing and blushing, covering her face with her hands, "Oh god, I'm just as bad as Miku." She laughed at herself.

Her phone rang. It was a call from Rin. She answered it.

"What's up, Rin?"

"Miku! I can't find my phone!" Rin yelled.

Miku took in a breath, chuckling, "Rin. What are you using to call me?"

"Obviously my pager." Rin said sarcastically.

"When's the last time you had your phone?" Miku played along. "

I'm messing with you dummy."

Miku laughed, "You're the one who called me with your so-called crisis, genius."

"It was a jooooke." Rin whined.

"I knoooow." Miku whined back.

"Uuuuugh."

"Why the uughhhhhs?"

"I don't know. Just uuuuugh."

"Well ughhh then what's going on with you?" Miku giggled.

"Uuuugh nothing haha you?"

"Nothing much, just looking at some videos on Alex's YouTube channel."

"Oh yeahhh never did that. How is it?" Rin asked curiously.

"It's fun to watch." Miku chuckled sincerely, "He even danced to Levan Polka."

"Did he?"

"Mhmm. And did a pretty good job at it too."

"Nice!" Rin exclaimed.

"Yeah! You should check it out. It's on my like list. You gotta give it to him, this guy can dance." Miku said.

"I'll definitely check it out then." Rin decided.

"Kayyyy."

Miku kept looking through Alex's videos as she spoke with Rin.

"How have things been?" Rin asked her.

"Good. A bit tiring, but it's been an off week, y'know?"

"Yeah. I bet. And how's your boyfriend?"

"Alex is not my boyfriend, and last time I talked to him, he was doing well, although he's been busy. I haven't gotten a text from him in a bit." Miku said, suddenly noticing this.

"Maybe he's been working on new music. Gumi said its been over a year since he'd released anything new." Rin theorized.

"Oh yeah. That would make sense." Miku nodded.

"Yeah. She heard the Spotlight song you guys did by the way. I haven't heard it yet but she loved it." Rin chuckled.

"Probably because he was singing." Miku joked.

"True, haha, didn't know she was such a fangirl until you said you were working with him." Rin admitted with a laugh.

"Same. It's odd to see one of us Vocaloids acting like that." Miku said.

"Little bit yeah."

"Mhmm."

"Kinda funny though." Rin added.

"Isn't it? I thought Gumi was going to die when Alex sent that one picture." Miku laughed out loud.

"Imagine if she ever meets him in real life. I dunno if she'll recover from that shock." Rin laughed.

"She'll go comatose." Miku joked, laughing harder, "Without a doubt."

"Len got an earful from her about you and him, mostly him." Rin said matter-of-factly.

"Ugh don't talk about it." Len's voice muttered in the background.

Miku giggled.

"Well I gotta go soon. Gonna have dinner. Bye Miku. Have fun oogling over your bf's videos."

"I will, and he's still not my boyfriend." Miku said, "I'll have dinner too."

"Right right. Bye!" Rin said, hanging up.

Miku rolled her eyes, setting her phone down. She ordered some food from room service, and sat back comfortably to watch TV.

_**Two Hours Later...** _

Still watching TV with an empty plate of food next to the bed, Miku felt relaxed in a lazy sort of way. She inhaled and exhaled peacefully, laid out on her bed.

_Knock Knock Knock_

Miku sat up, looking towards the door. Her eyebrows furrowed a bit. Who was at her door at this hour? Hiru, maybe?

She got up, fixing her gray tank top and short black shorts to make herself a little more presentable. She looked through the peephole...

No one was there.

Miku hummed in thought, and decided to open the door and peek through. She turned knob and open it a little.

"Hey."

Miku gasped, backing away from the door with her hands over her mouth. Her visitor entered the room with his famous charming smile.

He had on a white V-neck, blue jeans, and red sneakers. He locked the door, then turned back to Miku.

"The door was open, so I went ahead and let myself in." He said with a chuckle.

"Alex?! What're you doing here?" She asked, walking to him in disbelief.

"Oh well you know, last time I saw you, you didn't let me kiss you back."

Miku's cheeks turned a bright shade of pink, "Are you going to do it?" She asked slowly, her heart starting to beat faster.

"Close your eyes and find out." Alex smirked.

Miku took in a breath and pressed her lips together anxiously, closing her eyes. She waited.

"This is a nice room by the way." Alex said.

"Thanks."

Alex pressed her against the wall, kissing her deeply. She sighed, kissing him back. Her arms went around him, and her leg went up. He gripped her thigh, pressing into her.

The parted a bit after awhile, catching their breath. They nuzzled each other, eyes half closed.

"See? That wasn't so bad."

"I had to wait a bit for it though." Miku pointed out.

"Sometimes those are the best kind?" He says with a bit of a small smile.

"Yeah, you're right." Miku smiled, kissing him again.

Backing away a little bit, Alex's hands rested on Miku's waistline. She ran her fingers through his hair.

"How've you been?" He asked her.

"Sucky. I've missed being in America. This week has just been terrible," She sighed, "But I'm a lot better now. How have you been?" She asked.

"Busy mostly. Working. I've got some free time now that I'm here in Japan." Alex answered.

"I can see that." Miku said with a chuckles, "But why?" She asked.

"Work of course. I've got things I wanna do for this Vocaloid project. Better to start here where Vocaloids are alreay popular."

"Nice." Miku nodded.

"Mhmm, and I'mma need your help if I'mma get Yunikuna off the ground." Alex admitted.

"I'll be glad to help." Miku said with a grin.

He smiled and nodded, "Great. If this goes well, it'll solve our problems with Kaito as well."

"I hope so. I don't want to have to deal with him anymore." Miku rolled her eyes.

"Pretty soon you won't have to." Alex said confidently.

"Good." She nodded.

He hugged her tightly. She relaxed against him and rested her head on his shoulder, sighing happily.

"Someone's happy to see me." (He teased her.

"Noooo, I'm just tired." She responded with a hint of sarcasm

"Well then lie down lazy."

"I'm comfy here." She answered back with a fake whine, burying her face a bit into his neck.

"You complain too much." He said with a chuckle

"Maybe." She smiled a little.

"I've almost missed it." He joked, kissing her again.

"Almost, huh?" Miku kissed him back, raising an eyebrow.

Alex chuckled a bit before letting her go finally. He flopped on her couch, getting comfy.

"Mind if I crash here?" Alex asked.

"Not at all. You can take the couch, or the other side of the bed if you want. There's plenty of room for the both of us. Unless you'd find it awkward..." She offered, trailing off a bit at the end shyly.

"I wouldn't mind." Alex said with a shrug.

"Neither would I. So I guess it's settled. We'll share the bed then." Miku nodded, laying on the bed on her stomach.

"Great! I'mma go get my suitcases then."

That night, Alex and Miku sat in bed. Miku was watching TV while Alex was on his laptop, making music. He fixed his glasses, hard at work.

Miku looked over at him, looking him over. He looked so professional as he worked. She couldn't help but think about what it was like working with him, and how her perspective of him had changed after such a short amount of time.

This really was something special.

Alex yawned a bit as he put his stuff away, laying on his back and getting comfy. Miku turned the TV off and got comfortable as well.

"Goodnight Miku." He said.

"Goodnight Alex." She said softly.

Alex looked over at here and smiled. She smiled back at him. He turned to face her, and so did she, sitting up on her elbow a bit. He did the same.

They leaned in and kissed again, slowly and intimately. He brought her closer, sighing a bit. She caressed his cheek, smiling a little into the kiss. He kissed her neck softly, and she giggled a bit. They kissed once more and smiled.


	14. Chapter 14

Miku's eyes slowly opened, still weary from her good night's sleep. She turned onto her side, yawning. She rubbed her eyes to wake herself up.

She noticed that Alex was already up and on his laptop again, finishing up what he had been working on yesterday.

"You're up early." She muttered sleepily.

Alex looked over at her, "Oh morning. I was just going over the finished instrumental one last time. It's ready for recording. Then I did some research on how to auto-tune with the program I use." He explained.

Miku smiled a bit as she sat up and stretched, "And on top of things, per the norm." She said, leaning against him and kissing his cheek.

"Yeah. Work habit. Gives me more free time for videos and stuff."

"I saw you do a lot of videos on your personal channel. It's cool that you have that sort of dedication to keep up with that and your career." Miku said.

"It's a lot, but I've more fun with it than work." Alex said.

"Nice." Miku said with a smile.

"I'mma shower and get dressed." Alex said, putting his laptop away and getting up.

"Okay. I'm gonna probably go back to sleep." Miku responded. Alex nodded, heading off to the bathroom. Miku laid down again and closed her eyes.

After a few minutes of sleep, her phone began to ring. She sighed a bit, grabbing it and answering it. It was Gumi.

"Yeah Gumi?" Miku asked, a little too sleepy for manners.

"Hey Miku! Everyone's getting together downtown later. You wanna hang out?" She asked.

"Oh. Well, sure, I guess I could come by." Miku answered.

"Awesome. We'll be there around 1 in the afternoon by the diner we always hang out at."

"Alright I'll be there."

"Awesome! Did I wake you up by the way?"

"Nah, I was already up."

"Oh okay. Bye!" Gumi said, hanging up.

After a few more minutes, Alex walked out wearing his jeans and red sneakers with a sleeveless Spiderman jersey, a black vest with a hoodie, and a black hat that he had on backwards.

Miku sat up, "Heyyy. You wanna meet the other Vocaloids later?"

"What other Vocaloids?" Alex asked.

"Well, I'm not the only one. There's many others, and I'm best friends with some of them. I'm meeting them later at one, and I wanted to know if you wanted to come." Miku offered.

"Count me in." Alex said quickly. Miku smiled and nodded.

Dressing herself in a blue hoodie, black shirt, and blue jeans with white sneakers, Miku and Alex went down to the diner Gumi had mentioned.

Rin and Len, catching sight of them from their seats in front of the diner, waved them over. Alex glanced at Miku quickly just to confirm that that's who they were meeting. When she nodded, he nodded too and they walked over.

"Hey Miku!" Rin greeted.

Len gestured to Alex, "Is that him?"

"Eeyup, this is him." Miku answered with a nod.

"Oh cool! So glad to finally meet Miku's boyfriend!" Rin exclaimed with a grin, shaking hands with Alex.

"Rin..." Miku sighed, coughing.

"Hey. I'm Alex. And ya'll are?" Alex chuckled, shaking hands with Len next.

"I'm Len Kagamine." Len said.

"And I'm Rin Kagamine." Rin said.

They smiled politely at him. He and Miku sat down at the table.

"Ah, so you guys are brother and sister?" Alex asked.

"Sometimes." Rin answered.

Alex took in a breath, but no response came. He paused, but no response came. They waved it off.

"So, how're you guys doing?" Len asked.

"Pretty good myself, how're you two?" Alex asked.

"Fine." Len nodded.

"Good." Rin smiled.

"So, Alex, what kind of music do you make?" Len asked.

"Pop, Hip-Hop, and EDM, mostly."

"Nice. I like American music a lot. Gumi got me listening to you a little bit. Not bad."

"Thanks man." Alex said.

The two guys side-fived. Miku and Rin exchanged a look.

"What kind of American music do you listen to?" Alex asked.

"All the same stuff."

"Nice. What artists are your favorites?"

"I just follow the mainstream stuff."

"Haha same." Alex laughed.

As they talked, Miku and Rin leaned a little closer.

"They're getting along." Rin whispered.

"Looks like it." Miku agreed. They chuckled.

Rin's phone vibrated. It was a message from Gumi. She checked it, then relayed its message to the others.

"Its Gumi. She's running a little late, so she's a few minutes out." She said. Everyone nodded.

"Oh right, Gumi's gonna be here," Miku said slowly, getting an idea, "You guys thinking what I'm thinking?"

"What?" Len asked.

"We should surprise her with her favorite pop star." Miku said with a bit of a mischievous smile. The Vocaloids all chuckled, catching on.

"Whose that?" Alex asked obliviously.

"You are." Miku answered him, looking at him with a growing smirk.

Alex's eyebrows rose in surprise, "Really?" He scoffed.

"Remember, you sent the picture for her to make her fangirl and stuff?" Miku asked.

"Oh yeahhh." Alex nodded.

"Yeahhh." Miku nodded too as he started to catch on as well.

"How should we surprise her?" Rin asked.

Miku gave it some thought, then lifted her finger to indicate that she'd come up with a plan. She giggled a bit.

"Alex should hide somewhere, and when we give the signal, he comes out and surpises her."

"I like that idea." Len said with a chuckle.

"What do you think, Alex?" Miku asked.

"I'm game. Let's do it. It'll be fun!" Alex laughed, "Surprising fans is always hilarious." He said, getting up and hiding.

Gumi arrived a few minutes later, and took Alex's empty seat at the table. She exhaled sharply before smiling.

"I'm here!" She huffed.

"Wow, what kept you?" Len asked all in one breath.

"I had a quick meeting with Luka about our next collab, and it carried on longer than I thought it would." Gumi answered.

"Ohh, whatcha guys planning?" Rin asked, subtly waving a finger underneath the table.

"Nothing big, just a couple songs. Kaito's been on our backs about them because we've been too lazy to actually finish them." Gumi explained, catching her breath, "But I'm here now." She smiled again.

"Well you can relax now then." Rin smiled, trying not to look behind Gumi.

"I hope so. It's been an insane day so far." Gumi sighed.

"It's about to get better." Miku giggled.

"Why do you say that?" Gumi asked.

To answer, Len gestured for Gumi to turn around. She did so.

"Hi there." Alex said with a smile, locking eye contact with Gumi.

"Oh my god!" She squealed loudly, gasping sharply with her hands over her mouth. She stood up in shock, "It's you!"

"Yes," Alex smiled and nodded, "And you must be Gumi. It's a pleasure to meet you." He said, hugging her. She burst out into a nervous giggle fit, hugging him back.

"I can't believe it..." She shuddered and laughed.

"I was told that you're a big fan." Alex said, rubbing her arms a bit before sticking his hands in his vest pockets.

"Yeah!" Gumi exclaimed, nodding quickly with another giggle and a blush.

"Haha. How'd you like to be in a video?" Alex offered.

"REALLY?!" Gumi shouted.

"Yeah. I was talking to my agent about doing some vids here in Japan, and one of them I can film just about anywhere. I was thinking in front of that skyscraper there with the fountain." Alex said, pointing down the street.

Alex looked over at the others, "What do you guys think?"

There was a chorus of agreement between everyone at the table.

"Awesome. Let me call Jeff real quick." Alex said, excusing himself.

Gumi gave Miku a tight hug, squealing again once he was away, "You got your boyfriend to do this?"

Miku chuckled a bit, "He's not my boyfriend, and yes, I did."

"Thank you!" Gumi laughed hysterically.

Once Jeff had arrived, Alex called everyone over and set them up in front of the building, with Alex front and center of the half circle. Jeff fixed up the camera and a Bluetooth speaker.

"How're we lookin?" Alex asked.

"We are...good to go. I'mma start the song." Jeff said.

Alex nodded a bit, waiting. The Vocaloids all paused and waited.

Lean & Dab started to play from the speaker. Alex did a pose and nodded confidently. The others all exchanged glances, chuckling a bit as the song started.

Once the hook started, Alex took off dancing. The others, getting more into it as Alex did his thing, began to bounce and sway to the music.

Alex followed all the steps on time, adding his own flair here and there. Miku smiled as she watched him dance.

Alex went into full freestyle for the second verse, sliding around on his feet and dabbing again. Gumi giggled and Rin cheered a bit.

He kept going through the outro of the song, doing one more pose before high fiving everyone. After a bit, Jeff stopped the recording.

"That was awesome!" Miku exclaimed, hugging him.

Alex laughed, hugging her back and catching his breath, "That as fun."

"It looked really fun!" Gumi commented.

"None of us can dance like that." Rin added.

"It's easy. It just takes practice." Alex shrugged.

"Ain't nobody got time for that." Gumi joked. Everyone laughed.

"Ya'll are cool. I like ya'll." Alex laughed.

"We like you too." Rin smiled. Everyone agreed.

"Heyyy thanks!" Alex grinned.

Once nighttime rolled around, Miku and Alex returned to her hotel room. Miku flopped onto her bed.

"That was fun." She said.

"Yeah. Those guys are cool." Alex chuckled.

"I'm glad you like them." Miku smiled, sitting up.

"Mhmm. Hey, can I ask you something?" Alex asked.

Miku nodded, "Sure, what?"

"I overheard you telling the others that we weren't together. That kinda confused me a little." Alex said, folding his arms.

Miku pressed her lips together, and answered quietly, "Well, we didn't really say that we were together. To some people, just because we kissed doesn't mean we're together." She explained.

"What about you?" Alex asked.

"I want to be, but I wasn't sure." Miku explained.

"It would've been better to ask." Alex pointed out

Miku nodded silently, not feeling very good about herself. It wasn't a good first impression to make as a girlfriend, and her heart felt low because of how Alex had taken it. He looked hurt, and she could see it.

"So...are we?" She asked unsurely.

"I think so. Do you?"

"Yes."

"Then we are," He cracked a smile, "Simple as that."

"Okay." She said, grinning in relief.

She stood up and hugged him, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright." He said, hugging her back.

He rubbed her back soothingly as they hugged. Miku sighed with a smile, burying her face in his neck and closing her eyes.

"I feel much better about it now." Alex said lowly to her.

"I do too." She said, lifting her head.

They kissed softly. She brought her hand up to caress his cheek. After a brief exchange, Alex pulled away with a smile.

"I need you to help me with something."

"What?"

"Well, wait, lemme take a shower first."

Once they had both showered, Alex took a small bag into the bathroom. She followed him. He pulled a small sheet of plastic out of the bag, and handed it to her. She carefully took it.

"I need you to help me put this on my arm." He said.

Miku looked the little sheet of plastic film over. The design on it showed three bright red 0's in a line.

"What is it?"

"It's a temporary tattoo. It's also my Vocaloid number." Alex smiled.

"Oh, cool. So this is your alternative to the real thing, huh?"

"Yep." Alex nodded.

"How do you put it on?" She asked.

"You just stick it on, then press a cold towel to it. I need you to make sure it's centered and everything, and I'll hold it in place while you get the towel."

"Kay." Miku said.

Doing as he instructed, Miku pressed the tattoo up to his upper arm and made sure it was centered. As Alex held it in place, Miku ran a towel under cold water and pressed it to his arm.

"Just keep dabbing it for about 30 seconds." Alex said.

Miku nodded, doing so.

"Are there any Vocaloid trademarks I need to know about, as far as looks are concerned?" Alex asked.

"Well, each of us have a significant physical item that individualize us a bit and makes us easier to pick apart. It doesn't have to be big, but it just needs to be noticeable at times."

"So like a signature look or piece? Would that work?"

"Basically." Miku nodded, peeling off the tattoo, "It looks perfect!"

"Great. Let's do the other side." Alex said. They did the same thing.

"I have the signature piece covered by the way." Alex said.

"Really? What is it?" Miku asked.

"My red bandana. It's in my bag." Alex said.

"Oh cool."

"Mhmm. It's been my special piece for a few years now. I have it on me everyday anyways, so might as well."

"That's nice." Miku smiled, peeling off the other tattoo, "There we go."

"Good." Alex stood up, going to his bag and getting the bandana. He brought it back to her and showed it to her.

"This is it?" Miku asked, taking it in her hands. It was soft and smelled nice. It was very well taken care of.

"Yeah. It was a gift from my Mom when I was a kid. I wanted to be a pirate." He chuckled.

"That's cute." Miku said, chuckling as well. She handed the bandana back to him.

Alex stared down fondly at the bandana, stroking it with his thumb. Miku could see a hint of sadness in his eyes. She hugged him from the side.

"I miss her." He said, putting his arm around her.

"I know." Miku said, rubbing his arm.

"She was a strong woman. Cancer ended up taking her in the end." Alex explained.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Miku said softly.

"It's alright. She lived a good life. Died peacefully." Alex said with nod.

"That's good." Miku said.

Alex paused for a bit before changing the subject. He put the bandana away, then grinned at Miku.

"Tomorrow, I spend my first day as Yunikuna Kotae." Alex said.

"True. How does it feel?" Miku asked.

"Makes me excited. Little nervous too." He admitted.

"It is exciting," Miku hugged him, "But you don't have anything to be nervous about."

"It's just an anxiety thing. It's a good kind though."

"I understand." Miku smiled.

"I can't wait to film and record. Your production team wants to meet me and see what I'm like, on and off stage. Hiru suggested I do a little showcase performance of one of my songs." Alex said.

"I can see why you'd be a little nervous then. But don't worry, we'll all be here with you." Miku reassured.

"I know." Alex smiled.

Miku smiled, turning him a bit. She looked at the tattoos again. They looked fresh and bright, but more importantly, they made him look like a Vocaloid.

"These are so cool!" She said, brushing her fingers on the tattoo, "It's like an instant transformation."

"Haha, yeah. It is sealed now." He said with a smile.

"Yes it is." She grinned.

They laid down in bed, and exchanged a brief kiss.

"I like this." Alex said.

"I do too." Miku grinned, curling up with him.

"I could get used to this." He said, holding her.

"Definitely." She said, closing her eyes.


	15. Chapter 15

Miku sat on her bed, legs crossed. Dressed in her signature Vocaloid look, she was waiting for Alex to get out of the bathroom so that they could leave for the studio.

Alex finally came out, dressed in his own Vocaloid look: his white and black vest with the hoodie down. He wore dark blue jeans tucked into his black boots. His bandana hung out of his back right pocket. He also had two thin black arm socks that went up his arms, stopping about an inch below his Vocaloid number.

Arms outstretched, he turned in a circle, "Whattaya think?"

"You look fantastic!" Miku clapped.

"Heheh, thanks. It took some shopping around at different stores, and a little custom stitching for the hoodie, but it came together quite nicely." Alex smiled.

"I'll say." She agreed, hugging him and kissing his cheek.

"We should be leaving soon." She said.

"What time is your limo supposed to be here?" Alex asked, checking the time on his phone with one arm around her.

"It should be out there already." Miku chuckled.

"Let's go then." Alex said with a smile.

As they pulled up to the studio, Miku got out first as Alex fixed his arm socks. They entered and went straight up to the level where her studio was at. They met Hiru when they entered, and the team all greeted Alex warmly.

They set up a small little stage and a microphone for him, then everyone took their seats and waited patiently. Alex switched his vest for a black shirt and black collared jacket.

"This is more nerve-wracking than a normal show." Alex chuckled a bit.

"You'll do great." Hiru said.

Miku and Hiru took their seats too. Alex went up onto the stage, and tested the mic. Some feedback went off, making him cringe. He tested it again, then nodded.

The instrumental to Acquainted started up. Alex popped and locked a little bit, then slid into the first verse. Miku grinned. It was the first time she'd gotten to see him perform.

As he hit the first chorus, he lifted his hand up, a focused loom in his eyes. When the beat hit, he rolled his body smoothly, making her "Ooh" softly.

He slid around a bit on his feet through the second verse, taking the mic off the stand and letting it fall. He rocked his shoulders, moonwalking in place a bit.

Starting into the second verse, he kicked the stand back up into place and put the mic back. The beat hit, and he rolled again, much further back this time.

Miku grinned, clasping her hands together as he went through the bridge.

He held the mic for the last chorus, breaking out into one last dance as he finished the song. The outro came, and he popped his chest once as the song came to a close.

Everyone, especially Miku, clapped for him. Alex smiled, huffing a bit.

"That was awesome!" Miku said to Hiru.

"Well done, Alex, just like back in Colorado." Hiru said to him.

"Very nice, Alex. If you don't mind, we'd like to discuss as a team." One of the sound managers said. Alex nodded, leaving the room with Miku and Hiru.

"That was great, Alex. Nice Vocaloid look by the way." Hiru said.

"Yeahhh." Alex chuckled, "Thanks guys."

"No problem." Miku grinned.

After a minute or two, Alex was called back in. He took a breath and entered.

"The team's all in agreement. We enjoy your charisma, Alex. We look forward to seeing what you produce, and where you and Miku go from here." The sound manager said with a smile.

Alex let out a long exhale, feeling a rush of relief and excitement all at once. Miku squealed happily, "That's fantastic!"

"Alex, how would you like to open and perform for a Hatsune Miku concert?"

Alex inhaled sharply, not responding. He glanced at Miku, who gave him an encouraging smile.

"Y-yes. Gladly. Yes! I would love to!" Alex answered.

"Congratulations are in order then. Your first show together will be about two weeks from now, so work will be tightly packed."

"That's totally fine," Alex said, "I'll have a song ready before sundown." He said confidently.

"Let's get to work then." The sound manager smiled.

Hours later, when the sun was indeed going down, Alex and Miku left the studio, getting back in the limo. They got comfortable, Alex putting his arm around Miku again.

"You never cease to amaze me." She complimented him.

"I'll admit, two songs near done in a day is ambitious for me, more than usual." Alex chuckled.

"That's exactly what I'm thinking," Miku chuckled, "It's incredible."

"I just have some great encouragement and motivation." Alex smiled at her. She grinned back at him.

"We have a show together!" Alex exclaimed.

"Yeah! Isn't it great?!"

"Yes! I'm all anxious now." Alex laughed a bit.

"Don't be anxious, Alex. You're going to do just fine." Miku reassured.

"It's an excited anxiousness though!" Alex exclaimed.

Miku chuckled, "I can see that."

"It's like when I first started making music all over again." Alex chuckled nostalgically.

"An incredible feeling, isn't it?"

"Crazy so, yeah." Alex chuckled. Miku smiled, leaning against him and getting comfortably.

"Thank you for this." Alex said, kissing her forehead.

"You did most of the work, though." Miku pointed out.

"We got here together, didn't we?" Alex asked.

Miku thought about this for a bit, "Yeah... You're right."

"That's all that really matters then, isn't it?" He smiled. With a small smile and a nod, she agreed.

He really was something different, but it seemed to be the best kind of different.

Nighttime had fallen over Tokyo. The limousine pulled up in front of an abandoned warehouse. Miku stepped out followed by Alex, dressed as Yunikuna Kotae. They looked it over.

"This is the place." Alex said, nodding.

"Hopefully." Miku chuckled as they walked in.

They came in to find a film crew setting up for a video shoot, with Jeff overseeing things. He caught sight of them entering, and hurried over to meet them.

"Dude, check out what we got!" He said, pointing to his right. They saw a black coffin with three red 0's painted on it.

"Woah!" Alex laughed.

"Yeah, right?! They found this prop in the warehouse and painted it over for the video."

"It looks great! It's perfect actually!"

"It looks so cool!" Miku praised.

"We thought it would be cool if you opened it in the video, Miku." Jeff said to her.

"Cool!" Miku said, looking around.

Alex left them, going to the coffin. He opened it up to inspect the inside, then began to speak with the production team.

"Alex didn't officially introduce us. I'm Jeff, Alex's dance choreographer." Jeff said. They shook hands.

"Nice to meet you, Jeff."

"You too." He smiled.

Miku began to look around the warehouse. The warehouse was vast, but mostly empty, except for the props that the film crew had placed. She approached one box labeled: 'Spare Vocaloid Props'.

She crouched down, opening it and looking through it curiously. She found a bunch of carnival themed masks conveying different emotions: Happy, Sad, Angry, and one black mask with red eyes and a fanged smile.

Miku hummed a bit, picking up the black mask and inspecting it. She ran her hand across it. It was smooth and new. She could hear that they were about to start filming, so she closed the box.

Alex walked over to her, and she handed him the mask.

"Alright. So here's what everyone's agreed on for the setup. You'll come in, presumably looking for something or someone, and you'll find the casket standing up. You'll open it up, I'll have a mask on. A voice will say: 'Playing song to activate'. From there you just step off and watch.

Miku nodded, "Okay. Got it."

Everyone got into position. The director instructed everyone to get into position.

"Quiet on the set. Everyone ready? We roll in 3...2...1..."

Miku walked onscreen, looking around as if she were looking for something. She stepped closer to the casket, looking around a bit more before turning towards the casket.

She paused for a few seconds, then grabbed the top of the casket. She opened it up, revealing Alex inside.

He was slumped up in the casket, knees slightly bent as if he was laying limply, his head tilted back. She tilted her head curiously, touching the mask.

"Playing song to activate." A computerized female voice said.

Lights flashed on brightly inside the coffin. Miku quickly backed offscreen.

Miku watched as the dubstep song began to start. Alex stumbled out of the coffin with jolted, robotic, and choppy movements.

Then the drop kicked in, and that's when Alex exploded.

Alex slid back and forth, flew across the stage for his dance. At times, he was moving so smoothly and so quickly that his arms would appear as twisting blurs. His whole body moved like an active ocean.

Alex finished off by turning his back to the camera, still rocking on his ankles to the rhythm of the song. He took his mask off. The song finished. He turned to the camera, looking sideways at it and holding his mask out.

"...and cut! One take! Beautiful!"

The set crew all clapped. Alex bent down with his hands on his knees, gasping for air. Miku clapped too, running over and hugging him once he stood straight.

"That was amazing!" Miku exclaimed.

"Practice practice practice." Alex huffed, chuckling a bit.

"It surely pays off."

Miku stepped out of the shower, wearing a black tank top and blue gym shorts. Alex sat in the bed, working on his laptop. She got in the bed next to him, looking at the screen.

Onscreen was finished footage from the shoot. Holographic visuals had been animated onto the coffin to give off a futuristic feel. She leaned on his shoulder, watching silently for a bit.

"Your team did awesome with these visuals! Holograms coning out of a coffin, heheh. You don't see that everyday."

"Right?" Miku chuckled, watching the rest of the footage.

"This is really great." She said.

"Yeah! And here it comes..."

The footage got to the end where Alex takes his mask off and turns. The camera zooms into Alex's eye, fading to black. Alex rewound the footage to his face.

"That's the face that's gonna either set off or enamor Japan." Alex said.

"We'll have to wait and see which one." Miku said.

"It'll go up on your page. The media and your fans have already started buzzing because of rumors planted by the team that a prototype Vocaloid was discovered, and this was a live Beta test." Alex explained.

"Oooh nice! At least they're excited, right?"

"From what I've heard haha we'll see how it turns out."

"I think it's going to do well." Miku said.

"We'll see. I'mma take a shower now." Alex said, kissing her briefly before going to the bathroom.

Miku started looking through her phone. It was blown up with messages from all her Vocaloid friends asking about the new Vocaloid on its way. She chuckled.

Miku's phone vibrated. It was a message from Kaito. She groaned a bit, reading it.

_New Vocaloid hmm? How was I not informed?_

_That's not my job, now is it? You'll find out with everyone else. I think you're going to like this new addition though._

It took a minute for Kaito to respond:

_I did not sanction it, so it isn't an addition. It's a statement._

_Whatever floats your boat._

_Vocaloids don't fly without me here. I'll make sure this one doesn't if this is the game you want to play._

_I'm not playing any games. None of this was my doing._

_Whose was it then, dearest?_

_Don't call me that. And you'll find out soon enough, along with everyone else._

_Very well. We'll be in touch then._

_Oh goody..._

Alex came out just then, wearing a white tank top and black pajama pants. Miku gently flicked her phone across her bed, sitting up.

"How're you feeling?" She asked him.

Good. Refreshed. How about you? Alex asked with a smile, drying his hair off with a towel.

"A bit put off. Kaito is aware of there being a new Vocaloid, but he doesn't know that it's you." Miku said. She reached forward and picked up her phone again, letting him read the messages.

Alex read through the whole conversation, then chuckled a bit.

"He'll know it's me soon, since he knows my face. But he doesn't own me. You being there helps boost me, but you don't officially sponsor me yet, even with my video on your official page. From what I gather, these are empty threats." Alex concluded.

"Are you sure? Kaito can't do anything to ruin this for you?" Miku asked, a little unsure.

"Off the top of my head, he could only kick up a storm, saying I'm tainting the industry or something. That won't mean much if people like my music." Alex said.

"Okay." Miku nodded.

They both sat back in bed again, under their sheets. They sat close, and Alex put an arm around his girlfriend. He got a glimpse at Miku's phone.

"Lots of messages." He commented with a chuckle.

"Everyone's excited to know who the new Vocaloid is, even the Vocaloids." Miku said with a laugh.

"Haha I bet!"

"That'll be an interesting shock, huh? I wish I could be there to see their reactions." Miku giggled.

"Me too. Well, I have more work to get done, so I'mma be on my laptop some more."

"Okay baby." Miku nodded.

Miku stirred a bit. It felt like she'd been asleep awhile. She lifted her head, turning onto her back. Alex was asleep at his laptop, sitting up with his head slumped towards his right shoulder. He'd passed out.

Miku got up slowly, shaking him gently. He stirred, smacking his lips and raising his head, "Hmm huh?" He mumbled, taking his headphones off.

"You need sleep, baby." Miku said softly.

"Yeah." Alex said, quickly shifting screens on his laptop. He turned the screen to her.

Miku looked at the dim screen. It showed her Youtube page. Alex's Vocaloid video was up, and had 1.5 million hits and rising already.

Miku gasped, "Almost 2 million hits already?!"

"Mhmm. Lots of positivity too, especially on the dancing. There's also a lot of speculation." Alex chuckled.

Miku grinned, "See? I told you they'd like you!"

"You did." Alex chuckled, hugging Miku. She hugged him back warmly.

"This is fantastic!"

"I'm a Vocaloid now, babe." Alex grinned.

"Mhmm." Miku smiled widely, stroking his cheek and kissing him warmly.

Alex wrapped his arms around her, pulling her onto him. Her hands fell to his chest, and she sighed softly. The laptop fell to the floor.

"I think this is cause for celebration." Alex grinned.


	16. Chapter 16

Miku yawned and woke up, stretching. She looked over to where Alex would have been laying, but he wasn't there.

Miku's eyebrows folded. She walked through the room, fixing her hair. He wasn't anywhere to be found.

She found a note taped to the door of the fridge:

_"Eat up. Big day today. Your ride will be here at 11 am. See you soon babe. ~Alex"_

Miku smiled with a slight tilt of her head. The note was extremely cute to her. She opened the fridge. Her breakfast was waiting for her inside. She warmed it up, ate, showered, then put some clothes on.

Her signature outfit.

Looking at herself in the mirror, something felt different. She looked like same Hatsune Miku she'd always been, but she certainly didn't feel like the same Vocaloid anymore.

Not that it was a bad thing.

She fixed her sleeves, resting her hands on her hips. Thinking back, she'd been popular for quite some time now, and she had only ever shared the spotlight with Vocaloids before now...

Now she was dating a regular human guy.

But that's just it. He wasn't normal by any means. He was, in all honesty, different than any other man she'd ever met. Even her male Vocaloid friends just didn't compare.

His own passion for what he does seemed to have ignited a new flame in her.

There was a knock at the door. Miku's attention turned away from herself. She checked the time: _**11:02 am.**_

Miku walked to the door, looking through the peephole. Kathy, Alex's agent, stood on the other side. Miku grinned and opened the door.

"Kathy! You're here!" Miku exclaimed happily, giving her a hug. Kathy hugged her back with a chuckle.

"It's good to see you too, Miku. How are you?" Kathy asked.

"Better than I've been in a long time. How about yourself?"

"Same. Truthfully. Today's a big day. You ready?"

"Mhmm." Miku nodded with a smile.

"Come. I'll explain everything in the car." Kathy said, gesturing for Miku to follow as she walked towards the elevator.

Kathy and Miku got comfortable in the back of Miku's limousine. Hiru was waiting for them inside as they entered. Miku sat by Hiru, and Kathy sat on the other side.

As the limo pulled into the street, Miku asked her question.

"So what's the big thing happening today?" She asked.

Kathy smiled, "Today a few things are going to happen. Firstly, we're headed to KAITO headquarters, where you will officially pull out from the company."

Miku gasped, "What?!"

She turned to Hiru, "It's happening today?!"

Hiru grinned and chuckled, "Surprise." He said.

Miku was absolutely dumbfounded. It was really happening? Already? It was so quick! How was this possible?

All of these Miku wanted to ask, but she was so in shock that nothing was coming out at all.

Hiru patted his hand on her shoulder, "Today's a big day, huh?"

"Yeah, heheh... So you found a company to sign me into?" Miku asked Hiru, looking up at him.

"Actually, your boyfriend MADE one." Hiru responded.

Miku found herself speechless twice.

"H...how?!" Miku finally managed.

Kathy answered, "Well, after seeing the predicament you and your friends were in under Kaito's dictator-like leadership, Alex decided the best way to get you into a place where you all could freely express yourselves as you've been wanting.

"So, he got together with some of his friends in the music business, Ed and Abel, and they helped him make Tochi Bridge, the official Prince Alex record label company." Kathy said proudly.

Miku laughed giddily, "Unbelievable."

Hiru laughed, "I said the same thing. This will be a big move, not just for him or for you, but this will affect the entire Vocaloid industry. Under Alex's label, Vocaloids will have a lot of new freedoms that they've never had before."

"Wow... He did all that?" Miku asked Kathy.

Kathy nodded, "And it'll all start with you."

Miku found herself having a hard time breathing as the elevator went up one floor after another. Hiru held her hand, but she had butterflies beating in her stomach and her chest that were about to burst.

The elevator stopped. Kathy exited first, walking ahead. Hiru walked out with Miku, falling behind.

"I'm really nervous. And excited. I... I'm not sure what to do." Miku said breathlessly.

"Just relax, and take a deep breath. There'll be no press in the room, so you can feel free to say anything or nothing at all." Hiru reassured her.

"Okay." Miku nodded.

The two stopped in front of the doors. Miku's heart began to beat even faster. She swallowed.

"I'm ready."

They pushed the doors opened and entered the room. Kathy was at her seat, and Kaito sat on the other side silently, with two bodyguards standing behind him.

"Miku. How kind of you to join us." Kaito said bitterly.

He had dressed himself up nicely, in a white trench coat with blue stripes, with a matching suit underneath and a black tie. He tapped his fingers on the desk.

"Hello, Kaito." Miku said formerly, speaking slowly to not show anything or let anything slip. She took her seat.

"I hope you realize you're making a big mistake, Miku, Hiru. Your fans are going to turn on you. You're turning your back on the Vocaloid industry that made you what you are, who you are." Kaito said with a nasty sneer.

Miku folded her arms, "If that's what happens, so be it. I lost their interest once, I can certainly get it back again." Miku said.

"Is that what Alex told you? I'm sure he holds the same hope." Kaito said.

Miku scoffed in distaste, "Well, he's got Hatsune Miku now. I'd say he's making a pretty good comeback as it is now."

"You think it'll last?" Kaito asked.

The doors opened again. Alex entered the room wearing a blue denim jacket with black leather sleeves and an attached gray hood, a black shirt with the Pink Floyd logo, black pants, sunglasses, and black Converse with blue heels.

Alex flashed a grin as he entered the room, closing his shades and tucking them onto the collar of his shirt, "Sorry I'm a little behind. Had a phone call to take."

He gave Miku a brief kiss on the cheek before taking his seat next to her. He smiled at Kaito, who simply exhaled.

"So nice to finally meet the culprit in person." Kaito said.

"Likewise, buddy." Alex said, setting a briefcase down on the table.

"I've read your terms, and I agree to them." Kaito said, reaching into his jacket and pulling out a pen.

"Good. I think it's a good deal. You'll still profit, but I will attain Miku's image and song rights." Alex summarized.

Miku leaned to Alex, "How much will he still profit?"

"Forty-five percent." Alex answered.

Alex pulled the contract out of his briefcase and signed it. He passed it to Kaito, who signed it with his own pen.

"Well, Kaito, with your signature, and everyone here present as witnesses, the transfer of rights goes into effect starting now. Pleasure doing business with you." Alex said, standing up and fixing his jacket.

"Yes, well, we'll see how everything turns out. Either way, I'll be happy." Kaito said.

"Then we should be all good." Alex grinned, closing up his briefcase and leaving with Miku under his arm.

Miku let out a long exhale. The pit in her stomach finally loosened up. It was all over now.

"Thank you." Miku whispered.

Alex stopped, kissing Miku's cheek before heading back to the room. He opened the door.

"You know, since we're here, let's discuss some more contracts." Alex said as he entered.

Alex and Miku sat at the edge of the pool on top of her hotel. It was late at night now. After an exhausting day of business and press conferences, they needed to rest.

"How does it feel to be finally free? Alex asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"I'm very happy," She sighed, "You're something else, you know?"

"Haha thanks!" Alex laughed.

"No, stupid, I mean it. You've done a lot for me, more than I can really say, and it means a lot too. Thank you." Miku said, kissing him. Alex kissed back.

They held each other close.

"I love you." Alex whispered quietly.

"I love you too." Miku replied quietly, hesitating far less than she thought she would.

"Get a room you two!"

Miku turned back quickly, seeing that Len and Rin had quietly joined them.

"Len, honestly! I'mma beat you with my leek if you do that again!" Miku yelled. Alex laughed.

"Thanks for inviting us, Alex." Rin said with an awkward chuckle.

"Thanks for coming. We've got some stuff to talk about." Alex said with a glint in his eye.


	17. Chapter 17

Alex walked out of the studio, dressed as Yunikuna Kotae. He found Miku waiting for him at the sound equipment. He smiled, walking to join her.

"Hey there, Vocaloid." Miku greeted him with a grin.

Alex smiled and kissed her, "Hey Miku. What're you doing here?" He asked.

"Well, the press conference ended early. Faked a few tears to get out of it. Got all emotional when they started 'bringing up my torn ties with Kaito'. Figured that'd help draw some attention." Miku said, standing up.

"Nice. I'm sure that'll help your fans pay attention. What happens next will be critical for our image." Alex said, taking her hand and walking with her to the elevator.

"I know. You act like I've never been famous before." Miku teased, pushing his arm as the elevator doors closed.

"Haha touché. Now that I think of it, have you ever been not famous before?" Alex asked.

"No." Miku shook her head.

"Mmm. Brat." Alex teased.

Miku scoffed, slapping his arm forcefully. He rubbed his arm.

"Ow." He whined a bit with a smile.

"You deserved it." Miku said.

"Yeah I did." Alex laughed, kissing her forehead.

The elevator doors opened. Alex and Miku quickly spotted some photographers camped around and waiting for them. They walked side by side to Miku's limo, resisting the urge to hold hands and not looking at any of the photographers.

They climbed into the limo, getting comfortable next to each other once the doors were closed. Rin, Len, Hiru, Kathy, and Gumi were all waiting for them inside.

"Hey there, Yunikuna." Len greeted slowly, grinning.

"It's like a dream come true." Gumi giggled.

"Hey guys. How're ya'll doing?" Alex asked.

"Good. Great." Everyone answered in a jumble.

"So, Alex, big question: what are we looking at for Yunikuna's music?" Kathy asked.

"I'm working on some demo songs. I'll probably revamp them later on and make a small album, so no one can say it was just a false story. I think Yunikuna could actually make some headway in the Vocaloid industry, so I'm gonna focus on that for now, at least for a little while." Alex said.

"Got it. By the way, Abel called. He wanted me to say congrats, and maybe now you'll stop stealing his songs." Kathy chuckled.

"Haha! I'll pay him back for that next time he wants to collab." Alex said.

"Whose Abel?" Miku asked.

"Ugh, The Weeknd! Duh! He was Alex's mentor when he started making music!" Gumi answered.

Miku looked at Alex. He nodded to confirm, then simply shrugged with a chuckle, "It's true. My first song, Acquainted, was his song first."

"Really? How'd it become yours then?" Miku asked.

"Well, my friends at school were always telling me I should do music, so I made a cover of the song. But, to make it better, I tweaked the instrumental and remixed it to make it sound cooler, and it got popular enough, so I cut a deal with Abel and he took me under his wing." Alex explained.

"That sounds really cool! I've never heard of him though." Miku said.

"Here. I can pull up a picture." Len said, pulling out his phone and typing for a bit before tossing his phone to Alex. Alex scrolled through a few pictures.

Miku burst out laughing, "Oh my gosh, his hair! It lookes like a deformed pineapple!" She laughed.

Alex laughed, "Yeah it was pretty stupid. It looks better now. More normal."

"What do you have in mind for your Vocaloid music, Alex?" Hiru asked curiously.

Alex hummed, "Well, I have one cover I think would work well. I'm sure I could do a duet or something too. Any takers on that?" Alex offered.

"Pick me!" Gumi shouted quickly, raising her hand.

"Haha sure." Alex agreed. Gumi squealed in delight.

"Man. This is crazy. We're part of a new brand now." Len said to Rin, who nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. That makes me like ya'lls boss now." Alex chuckled, and everyone rolled their eyes.

"You're cute babe." Miku giggled, patting his shoulder. Alex laughed again.

Kathy's phone rang. She had a call. She answered it, "Hello? ... Mhmm... What?! ..." She sighed, "Okay. I'll let him know." She hung up.

"What is it, Kathy?" Alex asked, his eyebrows folding.

Kathy shook her head, "We'll discuss it later." She said with a wave of her hand.

"Is everything alright...?" Alex asked, sitting back a bit.

Miku observed a nonverbal exchange between Kathy and Alex that spoke wonders. Kathy's eyes fell, and she shook her head ever so slightly. Alex swallowed, and nodded slightly in return.

"So, where're we headed, boss?" Gumi asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh. Well, I figured we'd celebrate the new deal today by having some fun. Go some places." Alex said.

"Anywhere specific in mind?" Len asked.

Alex shrugged, "Doesn't matter to me."

"Ooh! I know the perfect place!" Rin pitched in.

Alex took a large look around the two-story shopping mall, complete with gaming centers and multiple food courts. It was pretty big, and pretty nice.

Alex whistled approvingly, "This is pretty nice." He said to Rin.

"Told you! C'mon, there's this awesome laser tag field down this way." Rin said, grabbing Alex and hurrying off. The others followed behind.

They were all worn out from the day.

After several intense rounds of running around in a two story laser tag field, glow in the dark mini golf, and an extensive shopping spree, the mall was now closing, and the gang still hadn't left yet.

Alex, Miku, Rin, Len, and Gumi all sat around at a table at the food court, sipping sodas and eating pizza.

"Gosh, I'm beat guys. Today was awesome." Alex chuckled, slumping back in his chair.

"Heheh, told you." Rin said, nodding sluggishly.

Miku yawned a bit, "We should probably be heading back, huh?" She suggested.

"Ugh, but that requires getting up, and I kinda don't wanna do that right now." Alex complained, letting his head fall back.

"I'm with Alex on that." Len agreed, doing the same.

"Oh, come on guys, let's head back." Gumi said, standing up first. Everyone followed her lead, heading out to the parking lot and waiting for their limo.

"Did you get any word from Kathy?" Miku asked Alex, holding his hand as they waited in front of the mall.

"Hmm? Oh, lemme see," Alex pulled out his phone. He had a Voicemail from Kathy, "I do have something. Haha, what would I do without you?" Alex laughed, patting Miku's face as he pulled up the Voicemail. Miku smacked his hand, making him laugh.

Alex listened to the Voicemail, folding one arm across his chest and tucking his hand under his arm. His eyebrows immediately furrowed in seriousness as he listened.

Miku glanced around at her friends, who were messing around and tossing rocks around the lot. She turned back to Alex.

Alex started to pace a bit, running a hand back through his hair. His breathing got heavier, and his posture stiffened. Miku immediately grew concerned, but the message wasn't done yet.

Alex finally put his phone away, shoving it in his pocket.

"Alex?" Miku called to him softly.

Alex glanced back at her. She saw something in his eyes... Something she'd never seen in him before. His eyes didn't sparkle with cute flickers of light like they typically did anymore. They were dark...

They were full of rage.

"What did Kathy say?" Miku asked.

"I need to make a phone call." Alex said, pulling his phone back out and walking some distance away, disappearing behind a corner.

"Is he okay?" Rin asked.

"I don't know, but I'm about to find out." Miku said, going the same direction. Everyone quietly followed behind her, listening to what Alex was saying.

"Frank? Yeah, it's me. What the hell do you mean civil trial? You told me this wouldn't come up again!" He shouted.

There was a pause.

"You gotta be f- Unbelievable. Unbelievable... No, I'mma be there. You make that very clear. If she's gonna play the 'rape' game again, you can bet I'mma throw some harassment charges right back on her.

"She's been screwing with my image for nearly 2 years now. It needs to be made extremely clear that I'm innocent, and if she wants to get herself ruined in court, I'll gladly hand it to her!" Alex spat.

Miku gulped. This was a scary way for Alex to talk.

"Calm down? How can you expect me to calm down?! It's a court case, Frank! It's gonna be all over the news that I'm back in court for the same dang accusation!

"She's doing this on purpose, Frank. I swear to God, she's doing this on purpose. It's because I'm getting big again... Yeah, and where do you think this new evidence came from, Frank?

"You don't find it the least bit convenient that this is happening right friggin now, when I JUST secured a record labeling company?"

The limo pulled up in front of the mall, and honked to get everyone's attention. The Vocaloids all flinched, and everyone but Miku ran back.

"The limo's here, Frank," He sighed, "Yeah. Yeah, I'll see you soon."

Alex hung up the phone, muttering a flurry of curse words under his breath. He walked back around the corner, running right into Miku.

"What was that?" She asked with a measure of fear, hugging her arms.

"You heard that?" He asked.

"Most of it. They did too." Miku said, gesturing towards the limo with her head.

Alex sighed, "I'll explain it in the car." He said, walking to the limo. Miku followed behind him, and they got in.

"Alex, are you alright?" Gumi asked, sitting on the other side of Alex.

"I'm afraid not." Alex said, adjusting his hair a bit in the front with his hand.

"What happened?" Len asked.

"What happened... What happened was that I just got a voicemail from Kathy that, heh, apparently, I'm going back to court." Alex said sardonically, raising his hands up.

"What?! For what?!" Rin asked in shock.

"Valerie Martinez." Alex grumbled.

Gumi gasped, "No."

"Yeah. Apparently, new 'evidence' was found, so her mother appealed for the trial to be re-examined in a civil trial, so that's what's gonna happen a week from now." Alex explained.

"You can't be serious." Miku said, rubbing her eyes.

"I am so angry, you do not understand." Alex said.

"I'm sure you are." Miku said, resting a hand on his arm.

"I fly out to Texas tomorrow for the trial." Alex said.

"I'm going with you." Miku said quickly.

"Okay." Alex agreed.

The rest of the ride home was extremely silent.


	18. Chapter 18

Alex didn't say much on the drive to their flight to Texas.

Miku sat quietly with her boyfriend, leaning against him in a comforting manner. She didn't say anything either. She could tell he wasn't in a talking mood, but she could also tell that he wanted her comfort.

It was difficult to put herself into his shoes. Here he was, finally recovering from the hell he went through a year and a half ago, only to have to get pulled back into it against his will.

She fully understand why he wouldn't wanna talk about it.

The limo pulled up in front of their private jet. Alex opened the door, waiting until Miku was out to close the door. As workers tended to their luggage, Alex and Miku went into the plane.

Stepping into the luxurious private plane, Alex immediately laid down at a long couch that went around the length of the plane. Miku laid with him it was time to take off.

Once they were in the air, they laid back down.

"How are you feeling, honey?" She asked, resting her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest.

"Well, I've got a mix of emotions. Mainly, I'm just pissed off. I can't believe I'm getting sucked back into this." Alex said.

"Yeah. Well, your innocence was proven once. They can prove it again." Miku said surely.

"Yeah, but this new evidence may be enough to 'insinuate' that I slept with Valerie. If that happens, the jury could see things differently this time around." Alex reasoned.

"Don't talk like that. You're innocent and you're not gonna go to prison." Miku said, very quickly and very firmly.

"Yeah, well I don't share your confidence." Alex said, getting up and pacing back and forth.

"You need to. Otherwise, you're gonna suffer through this whole thing just like last time." Miku said, standing up as well.

"How do you know so much about this?" Alex asked curiously.

"I read an article about it." Miku answered.

Alex paused, "Right."

"Alex, please don't do this to yourself. I hate seeing you like this." Miku said, hugging him.

"Yeah, how do you think I feel? This woman is trying to ruin my career again, and she's using her daughter to do it." Alex said.

"It's sick. I know. But you can't let her get to you." Miku said.

"It's a little late for that." Alex said, pacing again. Miku sighed.

"What's going through your head?" Miku asked softly.

"What do you think? I'm angry! I'm sick of this-this witch! And Valerie. Urgh, when she betrayed me back then, I felt like I couldn't even trust my own fans.

"I got into music to entertain. To show off my talents. That's all I care about. That's what makes me happy.

"And then here comes the Martinez's. They wanna take all that to the trash. They don't care about me. They just want my money. They're trash.

"I'm not taking it this time. This time, they're gonna suffer for it. I'm filing harassment charges. I'll suck them dry! Make sure that they don't find the money to f with me again." Alex shouted.

Miku's lip trembled. She took a step back, scared by the rage he was displaying again. This was a completely different Alex. This wasn't her boyfriend, right? He wasn't like this.

"Babe. Please. This isn't you... You're scaring me." Miku said softly.

Alex sighed, shaking his head and looking down, "Sorry."

"You can't say things like that. Don't stoop down to their level. Otherwise, they win. They'll always have that power over you if you let them." Miku said, walking up to him and resting her body against his.

Alex wrapped his arms around her, holding her. He gently kissed her head, closing his eyes.

"Yeah. You're right. I shouldn't say things like that either."

"Please don't." Miku said again.

"Okay." Alex whispered.

They held each other in silence for a bit, swaying with the rocking of the plane and not saying a word. They both sighed multiple times, calming down and relaxing in each other's arms.

"Thank you for coming with me." Alex said.

"I wasn't gonna let you go alone. Not like this." Miku said.

"Yeah... Miku?"

"Yes, honey?"

"I have one request." Alex said.

"Name it." Miku said, loosening her grip on him to look up at him.

"I don't want you to come with me to the trial itself?" Alex said.

Miku swallowed, "I can't agree to that. I need to be by your side."

Alex shook his head, "No." He said quietly.

"Why not?" Miku demanded, letting go of him and placing her hands on her hips.

"Miku... This is gonna be a rehash of the worst thing that's ever happened to me. I don't want you to experience that alongside me." Alex said.

"But wouldn't you want me there? To make it easier for you? So I can comfort you and take some of that pain off your shoulders?" Miku questioned.

"You can do that after. But please, this is something I don't want you to have to bare with me. I'd rather right this off and then move on and forget about it." Alex said.

Miku was silent for awhile. Doing what Alex was asking was the last thing she wanted to do, and it went against her every instinct as his girlfriend...

But she did have to consider how he felt too.

"I'll think about it, okay?" Miku agreed.

Alex nodded, "Fair enough."

Miku shook her head, sitting down, "I guess I just don't understand, baby. Do you not want my comfort? Would you rather I'd just stayed in Japan?" Miku asked.

She didn't want to take it too personally, but she couldn't help it. Her sole reason for coming with him was to be by his side the entire time, when he needed her most...

And that wasn't what he wanted.

"No, honey. That isn't it at all. I just... This is something that I don't want you to experience. Trust me." Alex said.

"I do, but... I just want to be there for you. There with you. But I guess it isn't the same thing." Miku said with an irritated undertone.

Alex's eyes fell to one side, "I'm sorry. I just...don't want you to go through the same pain I had to go through. It'll be new to you. I'd rather spare you that pain. I'll be fine through the trial, and I'll be with you before and after. Okay?" Alex reassured.

Miku sighed. She hated not doing exactly what she wanted to do, what she came to do. But...it couldn't always be about her. That's just how these things worked.

"Okay..." She said softly, hugging him again, "But I better be with you until you walk in and as soon as you walk out." Miku said.

"Haha. Deal." Alex said, kissing her forehead.

They held each other silently again.

"I love you," He whispered, "I'm sorry. I know I'm being kinda stubborn. I just don't want you to see me there. See how I was like. I know it's not gonna be pretty." Alex said.

"I know it won't, but I don't care about any of that. When I say I love you, I mean all of you, not just the better parts of you." Miku pointed out.

"I care though..." He looked down again, running a hand back through his hair.

Miku sighed. She could see all the pain behind his eyes as he talked about his past. He was embarrassed. She could see it...

And as much as she wanted to stay firm on her stance, she also understood why he was asking her to stay out of the trial.

So, reluctantly, she swallowed her pride, and said:

"I won't go if it'll make you feel better, but I WILL be by your side from every moment until then and every moment after." Miku said firmly.

"I already agreed." Alex chuckled dryly, little humor present.

"Well I'm just making sure." She said, resting her head on his chest.

He wrapped his arms around her again, "I'm very happy you're here with me. Things would be a lot harder without you."

"That's what I'm here for." She said softly.

Trial day.

Miku held Alex's hand as the limo made its way to the courthouse.

This past week had been emotionally taxing on both of them, especially Alex. With each day it seemed like he lost reason to be happy. As the trial day grew closer, Miku felt like he was losing joy even with her.

She hated it. She hated that she couldn't make him smile that much anymore. She hated that he was always too weighed down to laugh and be cute, like he'd been.

And she hated the person that was causing it.

In a strange way, she felt she could relate. Kaito had been holding her down, and making her purpose in life less enjoyable. That's what this woman was doing to her boyfriend, and he didn't know how to handle it.

She hated that woman.

Alex, dressed in an expensive black and white suit with a black trench coat, stared at the window as the limo drove on.

She couldn't even imagine what was going through his head. His past was coming back to haunt him in the worst way possible.

From what he'd said in their talks, he felt trapped. Back then, his ignorance opened the door for the Martinez's to take advantage of him. Now they were doing it again. And somehow it was worse than the first time.

Not only were they trying to bring back something that was supposed to be put away, but now that Alex was older and getting successful, if he lost the case, his life would quite literally be ruined.

That's what they wanted.

The limo pulled up in front of the courthouse. Alex sighed, turning and hugging Miku.

"Thank you." He said to her.

"I'll see you after." Miku said.

Alex put a hand on her cheek and kissed her deeply. Miku gasped in surprise, but just as quickly kissed back eagerly.

He hadn't kissed her like this in over a week.

"I love you." Alex whispered.

"I love you too. Things will go just fine, you'll see." Miku said.

Alex nodded and got out of the limo. She watched as he walked with Kathy through the sea of photographers and reporters. The limo pulled away...


	19. Chapter 19

Miku paced back and forth. Her breathing was faulty. Her eyelids were wavy. Her hair was nappy, tied back in a messy ponytail.

**Anger. Confusion. Fear. Concern. Worry. Uncertainty.**

These are the things she was feeling. It was past midnight now. She'd stayed up. She had been waiting and waiting.

Alex never came back.

No one knew where he was either. Not even Kathy, who always knew where her client and friend was. That was especially concerning. No police weren't involved yet, but Miku was considering calling them anyways.

Miku had been following the news about Alex's trial. The news on the verdict hadn't been released to the public yet, but Kathy had texted her the news.

Alex was found not guilty of all charges, and the judge fined that mother for harassment, half of what Alex had stipulated.

So why has he disappeared?

Miku looked at her phone again for the 400th time. Still no text message or phone call from Alex. It was bad enough that he was missing. It was worse that he had reassured no one, especially her, that he was okay.

Miku sat down on her bed and rubbed her eyes. Her eyes teared up a little in a combination of her worry and the pulling numbness of sleepiness. She laid her head down, and fell asleep without realizing it.

She quickly pulled her head up and looked at the clock. It was 3 in the morning. She'd slept for three hours. She rubbed her eyes again. A silhouette caught the corner of her eye. She turned her head and jumped with a gasp.

Someone was sitting at the edge of her bed! She turned the lamp on, reaching into her cabinet for her pepper spray. She pointed it at him, but stopped.

He recognized the person's hair.

"Alex?" She asked softly.

He didn't answer, which worried Miku. She could smell a stench on him that smelled faintly like the spray of a skunk. She slowly walked around the bed, sitting down by him.

"Baby?" She asked softly, putting a hand on his cheek.

He turned with her hand and looked at her. His mouth hung open sleepily, and his eyelids hung low. His eyes were red and spotty.

Miku was horrified.

"What happened to you?!" She exclaimed. Alex put a hand on her cheek, blinking a few times.

"It was just a dance..." He muttered in a slur. Miku laid him down on his back, holding him lightly. He soon fell asleep on the bed.

Miku pulled away from him, and suddenly began to sob. Seeing him like this made her heart sink, and she feared where he had gone that had left him in such a condition.

She walked to her side of the bed and grabbed her phone. She quickly texted Kathy that Alex was back. She got no reply, so she went to sleep.

Miku was up early that morning, still unable to sleep. She got dressed in a hoodie and sweatpants. Alex was still passed out on the bed, his suit sloppy and wrinkled.

Miku stared at him for a while, considering what she should do. What she really wanted was to punch him and scream at him for disappearing, but she knew that would not work well for the relationship.

But still, she felt betrayed. It was like he had left the world and abandoned them for a night. Except he hadn't left the world. He had gone somewhere. Somewhere bad.

And he'd done it on purpose.

There was a knock on the door. Miku opened it. It was Kathy. "Where is he?" She asked. Miku stepped aside, and she walked in.

Upon seeing Alex, she gasped in horror. A hand went over her mouth. "Oh no." She exhaled. She took a moment to recollect herself, swallowing hard.

"He was like this when he got here. I didn't see him enter, but when I woke up at around 3 this morning, he was just sitting on the bed." Miku explained.

Kathy rubbed her forehead, exhaling again, "I was worried this would happen." Kathy sighed.

"What do you mean?" Miku asked, glancing up at her with concern.

"The smell. How he looks. I've seen it before... The last time this happened. This godforsaken court battle." Kathy grumbled angrily.

"He's gotten like this before?" Miku asked softly, afraid of what the answer would be. Kathy nodded her head.

"Yes... He came to the studio one day in a taxi, several days after the court battle ended. He was so drunk he could barely walk... He'd gone to a club." Kathy explained slowly, trying to keep her emotions at bay.

Miku pressed her lips together and nodded slowly. Somehow, that made her heart sink even lower than it already had.

Alex began to stir a little bit. Miku reacted first, going by his side and helping him to wake up. As he became more and more awake, Miku helped him to sit up.

Alex groaned, rubbing his eyes. He gradually opened them. He felt sluggish and slow, and he had a numb pain in his head.

"Ugh...my head hurts..." Alex groaned, resting his head against Miku. She held him. He sighed. "Miku?"

"Yes. I'm here." Miku said softly to him.

"Alex... Where were you last night?" Kathy asked, sitting on the bed by his feet.

Alex rubbed his head, fixing his messy, nappy hair. "I don't remember that well. I remember...dancers. People drinking." Alex recalled vaguely.

"You went to a club." Kathy exasperated.

Alex nodded slowly in agreement. "Yeah, I think so." He said.

"What were you thinking?" Miku demanded, her anger resurfacing as Alex sat up on his own. Alex sighed.

"After the trial, I wasn't feeling too good. It was...exactly like the first trial. I needed to be alone, so I got an Uber and went out. I barely remember it. I don't know much of what I did, but it must've been really extreme." Alex sighed, rubbing eyes.

Alex finally got up, pacing a bit. Miku sat quietly. Kathy got up, not saying anything either. Alex rubbed his forehead.

"Could I have some privacy please?" Alex asked.

"Sure." Kathy said, getting up. She gestured for Miku to follow. She shook her head in confusion. She took her hand and walked out with her.

Miku glanced back at her boyfriend, who was pacing a bit with his hands back on his hips. The door closed behind her.

"Why did you do that? We're not gonna leave him alone, are we?" Miku asked in surprise.

Kathy nodded. "He's okay. He just needs time to process things. I'd rather not push him too much. After all, he's an adult now, and while I worry about him like he's 16, he can make his own decisions." Kathy said.

Miku's eyebrows furrowed in surprise. "What? So you're not gonna ask any questions?"

"No, I will. Believe me. But you have to remember how this affects him. He's crushed, just like last time. I just..." Kathy broke off, unsure what to say.

"Let me back in." Miku said.

Kathy hesitated, but finally, she handed Miku the keycard to his door. She took it. Kathy left her. Miku turned to the door.

Feeling a growing pit in her stomach, Miku slowly slid the keycard into its slot. The light turned green when Miku took the card out. She slowly turned the knob and opened the door.

She entered quietly, peeking inside and not saying a word. She found Alex sitting on the bed again, motionless and expressionless as tears fell in small streams from his red eyes.

Miku's lip trembled a bit as she walked to him. He said nothing. She say by him and hugged her arms around his head, bringing it under her chin.

He began to sob quietly...

Alex stopped being himself.

It was scary to Miku. The next day when they woke up together, it was like he had no more emotions.

He didn't kiss her good morning. He didn't even smile when he hugged her. At breakfast, he hardly said a word. On the flight to Japan, he held her hand, but stared out the window the whole time.

It was the look in his eyes. The way his eyelids always drooped down halfway. How he always had a long face...

He looked cold. He looked dead.

Of course, Miku stayed with him, just hoping it'd pass, and pass quickly. Sure it'd only been a day, but it was definitely not something that Miku wanted to stick around.

The plane had landed on the strip now. When the doors came in and the stairs came out to meet them, Alex and Miku walked out and found their friends waiting for them at the bottom by Miku's limo. They were smiling and waving.

"You guys are finally back!" Gumi exclaimed, hugging them both when they got down.

"We followed everything on the news. Congrats on the win." Len said with a not, patting Alex's shoulder.

Alex nodded, glancing at all of them with an unchanging expression. "Thanks guys. I appreciate it." He said before stepping into the limo and sitting down.

The others were silent for a bit. Rin was the first to speak up. "He doesn't look good." She said.

Miku shook her head. "No. He's been like that all day. He was a mess when he came back from trial. He went to a club and did who knows what, and then the next day, it's like he doesn't have any emotions, period." Miku sighed.

"Woah woah. He went to a club after the trial? I didn't here anything about that." Gumi shook her head.

"Neither did we. He didn't come back until around 3 am." Miku said.

"What?" There was a general confusion amongst all of them.

They all got in the limo. Alex had a glass of champagne in his hand and was sipping from it slowly. They all sat close to him, doing their best to be comforting just by their presence.

It was a quiet ride back to the hotel.

"Alex, please don't drink too much?" Miku asked him softly as they neared the hotel.

Alex glanced at her and nodded silently. The limo pulled up to the hotel, and they all stepped out.

Kaito was waiting for them in front of the hotel.

"Welcome back." He said as they came out. Miku began to seethe. Alex said nothing.

"I'm glad to hear all went well." Kaito said with a faint smile, resting his hands in his pocket.

"Thanks." Alex said quickly.

"And all is well, right?" Kaito asked.

Alex approached Kaito, eye to eye with him. "Yeah. It is." He said, his expression still unwavering.

"Glad to hear it, partner." Kaito said through clenched teeth.

"What brings you out here, Kaito?" Miku asked, clearly just as unhappy to be part of the conversation.

"Just came to see how my favorite pop star and her manager are doing after such an exhausting trial. I'm sure you must be feeling really drained right now." Kaito said to Alex.

Alex's lip tugged to one side. "She's not your concern, Kaito. I suggest you focus on the Vocaloids that haven't slipped through your fingers yet and not on the limited profits you'll make off our legal agreement.

"Now piss off." Alex said.

Kaito's head tugged to one side. Miku could see that had affected him more than his pride would allow him to show.

"Very well. I do hope you two recover soon," Kaito turned his direction to Miku, "And that you start making music again." And with that, he left them.

Without a word, Alex linked his arm with Miku's and they entered the hotel.

"Nice job handling Kaito." Miku complimented.

"I'll smash his head into the wall next time he tries that."

Miku swallowed. She said nothing. Her grip on his arm loosened a little bit. He did nothing to stop it. They walked into the elevator, heading up to the penthouse.

"Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"You love me, right?"

"Mhmm."

"Could you please say it?"

"I love you." Alex said with no hesitation. That reassured Miku. But still, it was said in the same tone as he said everything.

 _"Maybe I should be more patient with him."_ Miku decided in her head.

Making that decision made it a lot easier for her to be there for him that evening. Even though he didn't say much, she was gonna make sure he knew that she still loved him...

And she was still gonna care for him.


	20. Chapter 20

Alex sat in a chair at the engineer's table, headphones over his ear and looking through pictures on Instagram. He listened to Hatsune Miku on her recording session.

Alex coughed a bit, adjusting his headphones and his laptop as Miku finished her session. He pressed a button and began speaking to her.

"Hey Hatsune?"

"Yes?"

"Could you do your ad libs for the second half of the song again? Something didn't quite gel with the first set."

"Sure babe. I'm gonna take a break after, okay?"

"Sounds good." Alex nodded, sitting back in his chair. He scrolled back on the track and hit play. Miku signaled him to rewind a little, so he did. She did her ad libs.

Once finished, she came back around and joined Alex in the booth, sitting by him. He got to work doing some editing. She watched him work, running her hand on his back.

Alex yawned a bit, pulling his headphones off. "There. Sounds good now. I like this song. It's got kind of a modern techno disco feel to it."

"I'm glad you like it. I thought it'd be fun to do more of a bubblegum song." Miku said with a smile. Alex nodded.

"Awesome. I'm gonna do some sets now. Just hit the play button when I give you the thumbs up. Kay hun?" Alex asked as he switched to a different track.

"Sounds easy enough." Miku said, taking his chair as he got up. He walked into the booth and put his headphones on. Miku put on the headphones Alex had been wearing.

Alex got himself situated, cleared his throat, then gave Miku a thumbs up. Miku hit the Spacebar, and he began to sing.

Kathy came in at the moment. Miku slid the headphones off again, smiling at her as she came in.

"Taking up sound engineering?" Kathy asked jokingly, chuckling as she sat by Miku.

"No one's here to do it for me, so a girl's gotta take matters into her own hands, y'know?" Miku giggled.

"How is he?" Kathy asked, glancing up at Alex, who looked a little bored as he sang.

"Doing a little better. I managed to crack him up this morning." Miku said with a proud little smile. Kathy chuckled.

"That's good. Good progress. And he's recording too. That's a good sign. What's he working on?" Kathy asked. Miku shrugged.

"I don't know."

Kathy reached for the sound engineer headphones, putting them on. He was singing Viva La Vida. Kathy nodded, setting them down again.

"A cover. Well, it's still progress. I'm sure his fans will appreciate it." Kathy said with a nod.

"Was it the same way last time?" Miku asked.

"Last time, it took him a year and a half to even get motivated again." Kathy answered. Miku nodded slowly.

"It is good progress then."

Alex finished the song, nodding to Miku and Kathy. He came into the booth.

"How'd that sound?" He asked.

"O-oh. I don't know. I wasn't listening to the whole thing." Miku answered.

"Auuugh," Alex groaned dramatically, tilting his head up and bending his knees. "You're so unreliableeeeee." He said, stretching out the last syllable for a few extra seconds.

"I'm sorryyyyyyyyy." Miku responded in turn with a similar tone. He scoffed a bit.

Alex and Miku got in a car. Alex pulled the car into drive and off they went. Miku got comfy in her seat, putting her sunglasses on and responding to text messages.

"Nice job recording today hun." Alex said. Miku nodded.

"You too honey, even though I wasn't listening."

"Nah that's fine." He said.

"How are you?" She asked.

"Doing alright. Better. Happy to be working again." Alex answered.

"That's good."

"And how are you?" He asked.

"Just happy to know you're feeling better." Miku answered softly.

Alex nodded, putting the radio on softly. They drove in silence for a bit. Alex put his shades on.

"So I was thinking about things I can do with my time outside of music." Alex started a conversation. Miku glanced up at him, sitting up.

"You're still gonna make music, right?"

"Oh yeah, of course. I'm still gonna sing and perform and write and produce and all that stuff, but I feel like there's more I can do with my time than that."

"Okay...like what?" She asked.

"Well, okay, so I had this idea. Have you ever heard of James Corden?" He asked.

Miku shook her head. "No."

"Okay, well he does this show called 'Carpool Karaoke" where he drives around with celebrities and they sing songs.

"I was thinking I could do a little celebrity challenge like that, where I have like 2 or three stars in one car, and we'll drive from Point A to Point B, wherever that may be." Alex said.

Miku hummed. "That actually sounds like it'd be a lot of fun."

"I'd record it too, as much as I could. I'll mash up the footage into like a 20-30 minute video and post it online. I think something like that could go viral, and it'd be fun to chill with fellow artists."

Miku scoffed a bit. "You're a nerd, you know that?"

"Haha I'm aware. It helps me not sound like an idiot in my music, especially my rapping." Alex said.

"Right. You know how much I adore rap." Miku said with a hint of sarcasm. Alex chuckled.

"Yeah I know what you mean, and I don't blame you. So much of it is so stupid and sounds the same. It's all cursing and guns and sex and ghetto." Alex said.

"Why do you do it then?" Miku asked.

"Well, cuz I like rap. It's a high energy genre and can be a lot of fun. But idiots like to ruin it by acting like they're big shot thugs. It's stupid, and takes away a lot of the fun." Alex sighed.

"You should write a song about that. I think rap's the only genre where you can get away with that sort of message and it still be a hit." Miku suggested, turning towards him.

Alex hummed, nodding slowly and clearly giving the idea deep though. He glanced at her and nodded again.

"That's a pretty good idea. I'll work on that tonight."

"Original song?"

"Of course. I don't ALWAYS work with pre-made material, babe." Alex laughed.

"Just checking." Miku said, hiding her happy smile.

Alex fixed his shirt, sitting down at a table. He glanced to his right at his host, who smiled and nodded at him. Alex put his headphones on. The director spoke.

"We're live in three...two...one..."

The host spoke. "Hello, America. I'm Ryan Seacrest. We're here with international pop star and rap star: Prince Alex."

"Hey ya'll. Wasgood?" Alex greeted with a goofy chuckle.

"Heheh. How're you this afternoon?" Ryan asked.

"I'm good. You?"

"I'm just fine, thank you for asking. I understand that you're a busy young man, so we'll get right to the questions, is that alright you?" Ryan asked.

"Sure thing." Alex nodded.

"Fantastic. Alex, I think the question that everyone's asking, love or hate you, is how are you doing after the intense court case a week and a half ago?" Ryan asked.

Alex exhaled slowly. "To be honest? I'm still reeling a bit. I've been very reserved about speaking publicly about the whole thing, to avoid saying anything out of line." Alex admitted.

"So the whole thing really struck a nerve with you then?" Ryan asked carefully.

"Heh, it did more than 'strike a nerve'. Right now I'm just trying to push it back. It's done, for good this time. I don't wanna dwell on it anymore than I already have."

"Of course. So let's move on then. With your battle successful and your career path still ahead of you, I think we'd all like to know what it is you have planned next. What's next for the 'Prince Alex' label?"

"Well, I'm working on some songs right now for my team, the Vocaloids. With my new company, Tochi Bridge, still in its early stages, we're all working hard to cement it with some productions.

"Personally, I'm also working on some cover music too. For fun, of course. I'd like to have more interaction with my fanbase, and entertain them on Youtube like I have been.

"The biggest thing though is working on new music. I'm hoping to have an album drop out by the end of the year, all original music. That's the biggest goal."

"Wow. Sounds like it'll be a busy year for you." Ryan chuckled a bit. Alex nodded.

"Haha yeah it sure will be. The biggest thing I want my fanbase to know is that I'm not gonna abandon you guys like I did last time.

"I'm just gonna come back stronger, better, more driven. It happened, it's done, now it's time to get to work and just do what I love doing, y'know?" Alex said.

Ryan nodded. "Very nice. Well, we won't take up anymore of your time. Would you mind signing us off here?" Ryan smiled.

Alex chuckled. "This is Prince Alex, and you're listening to the Seacrest station."

"Miku! Miku!" The reporters shouted. Miku comfortably sat in her seat wearing her signature outfit. She sipped some water before pointing to a reporter.

"What is the status between you and Kaito?" The female reporter asked.

"Those ties have been cut and the bridges burned. Next?" She pointed to another reporter.

"What about you and your fellow Vocaloids?"

"I'm still friends with a number of the Vocaloids in our community. Those relationships haven't changed. Next?" She pointed to a reporter towards the back.

"Has your relationship with Prince Alex changed at all with the recent events?"

"Our relationship has only grown stronger as me and my agent have done our best to support Alex through these trying times for him. We fully intend on continuing with business as usual in the following weeks. Next?"

Miku pointed to another reporter, signaling that it would be the last question we would answer.

"What's the next step for you as an artist now that you're signed under a new label?"

"I plan on expanding my music genres far beyond my typical stuff. I won't forget my roots, but my music will never again sound the same nor repetitive. No more questions, thank you."

Miku got up from the table, walking back as the reporters shouted for her to stay. Hiru met her backstage, and he escorted her to her limo.

"Nicely handled." He complimented.

"Thank you, I think that went very well." She said.

The two got into the limo. Alex was waiting for them inside, typing on his phone. Miku sat next to him, resting her head on him. The limo drove off.

"Who're you texting?" Miku asked.

"Friend of mine. He produces music for Ariana Grande. Remember, I told you that you sound like her when you're screaming in terror." He laughed a bit.

"I remember you saying that." Miku said with a little chuckle.

"Yeah. I'm talking to him and seeing what her business schedule is. See if maybe we can collab on something or perhaps do that car thing I told you about."

"Ahh okay. Have you worked together before?" She asked.

"A little bit. We've mostly just hung out at red carpet events." Alex answered.

"Okay. I look forward to meeting her." Miku said, rubbing his arm.

Alex and Miku laid down in bed together, pulling the sheets over them. They quickly got comfortable, snuggling up together. Alex yawned a bit.

"I'm exhausted." He said.

"Yeah me too. But the album's finally finished. It only took a couple weeks." Miku said happily.

"Mhmm. We won't tell anyone that though, obviously, since it doesn't drop for another few months." Alex chuckled.

"And you're doing much better too." Miku said, leaning over him and kissing his cheek.

"I am. Thanks to you mostly." Alex smiled, hugging her. She returned the hug.

"I love you babe." Alex whispered.

"I love you too." Miku smiled, closing her eyes.

Alex grabbed his phone, typing with one hand and holding Miku with the other. It was awhile before she noticed.

"What're you doing?" She asked.

"Finishing up that rap song you suggested I do. About how much rap nowadays is stupid." Alex said with an ironic chuckle.

"You remembered that?"

"Yeah. It's almost done now. I got in touch with a small time producer who posted an instrumental I found on Youtube as part of my 'Get Discovered' sweepstake.

"I made him an offer he couldn't refuse, so I'm just building my lyrics on top of the track." Alex explained.

Miku nodded. "I look forward to seeing how it turns out." She said.

"I think it'll be good. I call it: 'Real Talk'."

"Awesome." Miku smiled, taking his phone and putting it out of his reach. He chuckled as she climbed onto his chest.

"What're you doing?" He asked with a smile, propping his head up a bit.

"Distracting you." She smiled, leaning down and kissing him. He had no objections as he returned the kiss.


	21. Chapter 21

The lights all dimmed. The giant crowd full of thousands of people all cheered loudly in anticipation.

It was show time.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for coming out tonight!" Prince Alex said into his microphone, making the audience scream louder.

"We've got a big tour going all across America, and where better to kick it off than 'Home Sweet Home'?" Alex laughed.

Smoke began to fill the stage. Alex rose slowly from beneath the stage, a mic in front of him. As he emerged, the audience chanted his name. He smirked.

Acquainted began to play. Alex stepped to the mic, doing some fluid dances as he hyped them up for the verses.

He sang the verses confidently, all the while sliding across the stage on his feet and even kneeling to take the hands of those right up front.

As the song faded out, he walked across the stage and laughed.

"That's the song that started it all, huh. It's funny. I never thought that this is where I'd end up at when I started singing, but I wouldn't have it any other way." Alex grinned.

The audience applauded this, clapping loudly in rhythm. The whole stadium was roaring.

Alex walked back to the center of the stage. He stretched his arms out to his sides, and his original song, Energy, began to play.

This time, Alex was much more energetic, bursting into a full on hip hop routine with two of his backup dancers.

Fully utilizing his talents, he spun, popped his arms out through the arms of his backup, and made his arms move like a wave as they circled their arms around his and pulled away.

Alex pointed up, then down at the ground, popping into a toe stand and holding it for several seconds, singing all the while.

"Let's go!" Alex shouted.

The synth all cut out so it was just the beat and the bass. The floor lit up like a colorful dance pad. Alex stepped on it. A single spotlight shined down on him.

As Alex sang the bridge slowly, he slowly gyrated his hips in a circle and tapped his heel to the beat. He swung his arms behind him, kicked, spun, and jumped right back into another dance.

This time, he improvised, crouching and pumping his hands while rocking his knees before jumping, bringing his feet together, and rocking his shoulders.

He did a few poses while the last chorus played, bringing his hands up to his shoulders with one knee bent, then pointing to the sky. He lifted one hand up when the song ended, and faded it out with a boom.

The audience yelled loudly. Alex smiled.

"I'mma take a short little break, but I'll leave in you good hands. After all, every Prince needs a Princess. Give it up for Hatsune Miku!"

As the audience cheered for her, Alex ran up some steps. Miku began to sing the intro to 'World Is Mine', the lights all focusing just above Alex.

Once the intro was done and the instrumental was blasting, Miku emerged from two doors in her signature outfit. Alex took her hand and led her down the steps. He let her go, and disappeared behind a panel.

With full confidence and a hip sway in her step, she sang her verses, letting the screen displays behind her keep the audience pumped as she sang.

The chorus hit, and the lights began to swirl, lasers and spotlights shooting around. She swirled her arms and bent forward a bit, appearing to be in full control.

The next verses passed, and she strutted back and forth across the stage, the screens displaying whatever she sang about.

The audience reached out for her. She held a hand out, passing a hand through her fans' while not looking at them. She smirked a bit as she finished on out final note, posing center stage.

The audience cheered as the instrumental to Weekender Girl faded. A wall of fabric fell from above, covering her so she couldn't be seen for the song's intro.

When the fabric was pulled up, Miku now wore a small pink shirt that left her shoulders and midriff exposed, gray sweatpants, and sneakers.

She began to dance to the song as she sang, rocking her shoulders and kicking her feet behind her. She bounced on her knees while stylishly swing her arms and popping her hands.

She shuffled around on her feet, moving in circles and back and forth. She flicked her hair back and flashed a peace sign at her eyes with a grin.

She began to roll her body back a bit, shuffling one foot at a time while popping her hands again. She flicked her head back and flashed a smirk forward for the audience to see on the screen.

She rocked her shoulders some and swayed her hips for the end, hitting the final note and spreading her arms wide.

The audience cheered wildly. Miku took a bow as she began to disappear below.

Two electric angel wings appeared on the screens. The sounds of rushing wind filled the stadium as 'Electric Angel' started up.

Rin and Len stepped out of the screens in their signature outfits, along with yellow-orange bandanas around their heads and tied behind them.

As Rin sang the first verse, they walked across the stage, jumping with excitement and high fiving everyone they could. They took position center stage.

The first chorus hit. As they both sang, they marched in place, popping their torsos and hands to the beat. They did a few quick breakbeat steps on their feet as the instrumental played, stepping back and forth with a swing.

For Len's turn, he did some more modern dubstep while Rin hyped the audience. They did some robotic steps for the chorus.

As the beat blasted, they continued to dance, stepping back and forth energetically and swinging their arms.

At the end, the audience cheered wildly. Rin waved, jumping behind her and disappearing beneath the stage. Len waited with his arms folded.

Alex popped up in Rin's spot. He had on a similar outfit to Miku's: gray sweatpants with a sleeveless Nike shirt and sneakers, as well as a blue matching bandana.

Len hopped down beneath the stage. Alex clapped slowly, getting the audience clapping too. They got faster and faster, cheering a bit.

Len finally popped up wearing gray sweatpants too, as well as sneakers and a sleeveless yellow-orange shirt and a matching bandana, similar to Alex's.

The instrumental to 'The Fix' began to play. The two of them struck confident poses. The audience clapped.

Alex began to sing the sexy lyrics first, doing a few hip hop steps in front of the audience. Len popped his shoulders a bit.

They both began to sing, sliding towards each other until they were back to back. They crouched down a bit and leaned back so their backs were pressed against each other.

As they sang their chorus, they began to swing their hips up and down as well as slowly rotate them in sync, motioning to the audience occasionally as well.

They sang the second verse and chorus, teasing their audience more by singling out one girl in the audience and laying on their stomachs.

As they sang, they pushed up on their forearms, rolling their bodies a bit as they sang, all the while looking at their person. Alex even went so far as to tap the nose of his audience member with his thumb.

They shot back to their feet, sliding on their feet around each other and moving their hips some more, swinging their arms and hands around.

Len finished the song up, and they folded their arms in a pose. The audience went wild with screams while they caught their breaths.

Song after song, verse after verse, word after word. It had been a long time since any of them had been in front of such a large audience.

And they couldn't get enough of it.

"It's time for our last song, ladies and gentlemen." Alex said into the mic, now wearing all black with his favorite jacket. The audience 'aww'ed. He nodded.

"I know. It's been fun, and time flies. But! Let's make this a good one, what do you say?" Alex said. The audience cheered loudly.

Miku rose from the stage in her signature outfit. She smiled, making the audience yell some more. The intro to Spotlight began to play.

Alex and Miku sang, walking back and forth across the stage to take the hands of their audience members. They did this for the first verse and chorus.

When the beat dropped for the chorus, they jumped. Smoke shot out, lasers shot out, and spotlights flew across the audience. Rin and Len came out and jumped with them.

When the song was ever, they all took a bow.

"Thank you, Colorado! Goodnight!" Alex said before they all sank beneath the stage for the last time.

The four of them all laughed in absolute joy, high fiving and hugging each other and jumping giddily.

"We did it!" They all chanted again and again.

"This U.S. tour is gonna be absolutely amazing!" Rin said. Everyone agreed and began to walk back. Alex and Miku lingered behind.

"Alex." She said to him. He stopped and turned to her.

"Yes, love?" He asked. She held out his arms to him. They hugged.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Miku." He replied.

"Thank you for everything." She said.

"My pleasure." He kissed her cheek. They pulled away and kissed sweetly, allowing it to last a while before going backstage.

There they found Rin and Len with Gumi and another Vocaloid whom Alex didn't recognize.

"Luka?!" Miku exclaimed in surprise, running to her and hugging her. Luka smiled, returning all of her friends hugs.

"Hello, everyone. It's so good to see you all again. Absolutely amazing job tonight!" Luka said happily, excited but still calm.

"Hello there. I'm Alex. We haven't had the pleasure of meeting." Alex greeted. They shook hands.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Luka. I recently transferred to your team, and I wanted to come by." Luka explained.

"You're part of our team now?!" Gumi asked excitedly. She laughed joyously and hugged her again.

"We're happy to have you!" Miku exclaimed. Everyone agreed.

"Yes we are. We have quite a bit of work to do." Alex said with a smirk.

**The End**


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